Baseball Digest Janeiro e Fevereiro 2015

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F E A T U R E S

January/February 2015 — Volume 74, No. 1

2014 AWARDS ISSUE

13 Warmup Tosses by Bob KuensterMadison Bumgarner a World Series star for Giants

16 Player of the Year—Mike Troutby Mike DiGiovannaElite Angel excels on the path to greatness

20 Pitcher of the Year—Clayton Kershawby Bill PlunkettDodgers left-handed ace continues to dominate

24 Comeback Player of the Year—Johnny Cueto by John FayReds hurler returns to form with 20-victory season

28 Closer of the Year—Greg Hollandby Jackson AlexanderRoyals bullpen ace helps guide club to A.L. pennant

32 Rookie of the Year—Jose Abreu by Scott MerkinWhite Sox slugger has historic big league debut

38 All-Star All-Rookie Team by David Laurila2014’s top first-year players by position

44 Evolution of Pitcher Doug Fister by Tom WorgoNationals right-hander is a big-game hurler

48 The Game I’ll Never Forgetby Randy Myers as told to Barry RoznerReliever recalls World Series title with 1990 Reds

51 Baseball Profile by Rick SorciA.L. batting champ Jose Altuve

56 Turn Back The Clock—Mickey Lolich by Bill DowFormer Tiger discusses 16-year career and winning 1968 World Series MVP honors

4 Baseball Notes

6 The Fans Speak Out

36 Baseball Quick Quiz

52 Baseball Rules Corner by Rich Marazzi

55 Baseball Crossword Puzzle by Larry Humber

JOSE BAUTISTABlue Jays All-Star

captured Silver Sluggerhonors in 2014

D E P A R T M E N T S

January/February 2015 3

IN THE NEXT BASEBALL DIGEST:

Special 2015 SeasonPreview Issue

COVER PHOTO: Madison Bumgarner

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(Top Five Vote-Getters)ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARDAMERICAN LEAGUEPlayer, Team Pos. Vote Pts.Jose Abreu, White Sox 1B 150Matt Shoemaker, Angels P 40Dellin Betances, Yankees P 27Collin McHugh, Astros P 21Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees P 16

NATIONAL LEAGUEPlayer, Team Pos. Vote Pts.Jacob deGrom, Mets P 142Billy Hamilton, Reds CF 92Kolten Wong, Cardinals 2B 14Ken Giles, Phillies P 8Ender Inciarte, D’backs CF 4

CY YOUNG AWARDAMERICAN LEAGUEPitcher, Team T Vote Pts.Corey Kluber, Indians R 169Felix Hernandez, Mariners R 159Chris Sale, White Sox L 78Jon Lester, Red Sox/A’s L 46Max Scherzer, Tigers R 32

NATIONAL LEAGUEPitcher, Team T Vote Pts.Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers L 210Johnny Cueto, Reds R 112Adam Wainwright, Cardinals R 97Madison Bumgarner, Giants L 28Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals R 25

MOST VALUABLE PLAYERAMERICAN LEAGUEPlayer, Team Pos. Vote Pts.Mike Trout, Angels CF 420Victor Martinez, Tigers DH 229Michael Brantley, Indians LF 191Jose Abreu, White Sox 1B 145Robinson Cano, Mariners 2B 124

NATIONAL LEAGUEPlayer, Team Pos. Vote Pts.Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers P 355Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins RF 298Andrew McCutchen, Pirates CF 271Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers C 167Anthony Rendon, Nationals 3B 155

MANAGER OF THE YEARAMERICAN LEAGUEManager, Team W-L Vote Pts.Buck Showalter, Orioles 96-66 132Mike Scioscia, Angels 98-64 61Ned Yost, Royals 89-73 41Lloyd McClendon, Mariners 87-75 29Terry Francona, Indians 85-77 2

NATIONAL LEAGUEManager, Team W-L Vote Pts.Matt Williams, Nationals 96-66 109Clint Hurdle, Pirates 88-74 80Bruce Bochy, Giants 88-74 30Mike Matheny, Cardinals 90-72 18Mike Redmond, Marlins 77-85 16

BASEBALL STAT CORNER

4 January/February 2015

GOLD GLOVE WINNERSAMERICAN LEAGUE POS. NATIONAL LEAGUEEric Hosmer, K.C...................1B .........Adrian Gonzalez, L.A.Dustin Pedroia, Bos. .............2B .........DJ LeMahieu, Col.Kyle Seager, Sea. ..................3B .........Nolan Arenado, Col.J.J. Hardy, Bal.......................SS .........Andrelton Simmons, Atl.Alex Gordon, K.C...................LF..........Christian Yelich, Mia.Adam Jones, Bal. ..................CF..........Juan Lagares, N.Y.Nick Markakis, Bal. ...............RF .........Jason Heyward, Atl.Salvador Perez, K.C. ..............C ..........Yadier Molina, St.L.Dallas Keuchel, Hou...............P ..........Zack Greinke, L.A.

SILVER SLUGGER WINNERSAMERICAN LEAGUE POS. NATIONAL LEAGUEJose Abreu, Chi. ...................1B .........Adrian Gonzalez, L.A.Jose Altuve, Hou...................2B .........Neil Walker, Pit.Adrian Beltre, Tex..................3B .........Anthony Rendon, Wash.Alexei Ramirez, Chi...............SS .........Ian Desmond, Wash.Mike Trout, L.A. ....................OF .........Justin Upton, Atl.Jose Bautista, Tor. ................OF .........Andrew McCutchen, Pit.Michael Brantley, Cle. ...........OF .........Giancarlo Stanton, Mia.Yan Gomes, Cle. ....................C ..........Buster Posey, S.F.Victor Martinez, Det. ...........DH/P .......Madison Bumgarner, S.F.

2014 MLB AWARD WINNERS

GIANCARLO STANTON

MIAMI MARLINS

Corey Kluber

Jose Abreu

Kolten Wong

Anthony Rendon

Eric Hosmer

DODGERS RBI CHAMPIONSLast season, Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgersbecame the eighth player in franchise history tolead the National League in RBI.

Year Player, City RBI1919 Hi Myers, Brooklyn 731941 Dolph Camilli, Brooklyn 1201945 Dixie Walker, Brooklyn 1241953 Roy Campanella, Brooklyn 1421955 Duke Snider, Brooklyn 1361962 Tommy Davis, Los Angeles 1532011 Matt Kemp, Los Angeles 1262014 Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles 116

CO-STRIKEOUT CHAMPIONSJohnny Cueto of the Reds and Stephen Strasburgof the Nationals tied for the National League leadin strikeouts in 2014 with 242. It was the firsttime since 1951 that pitchers tied for a leaguestrikeout title and the fourth time since 1900.

Year Pitcher, Team League SO1939 Claude Passeau, Phillies/Cubs N.L. 137

Bucky Walters, Reds

1942 Tex Hughson, Red Sox A.L. 113Bobo Newsom, Senators

1951 Don Newcombe, Dodgers N.L. 164Warren Spahn, Braves

2014 Johnny Cueto, Reds N.L. 242Stephen Strasburg, Nationals

UNANIMOUS WINNERSIn 2014, Jose Abreu (A.L. Rookie of theYear), Mike Trout (A.L. MVP) and ClaytonKershaw (N.L. Cy Young) were unanimousselections for their individual awards. Theyjoin an exclusive list of other stars who wereunanimous vote-winners for league awards.

ROOKIE OF THE YEARYear Player, Team League1956 Frank Robinson, Reds N.L.1957 Tony Kubek, Yankees A.L.1958 Orlando Cepeda, Giants N.L.1959 Willie McCovey, Giants N.L.1972 Carlton Fisk, Red Sox A.L.1985 Vince Coleman, Cardinals N.L.1987 Mark McGwire, A’s A.L.

Benito Santiago, Padres N.L.1990 Sandy Alomar, Jr., Indians A.L.1993 Tim Salmon, Angels A.L.

Mike Piazza, Dodgers N.L.1994 Raul Mondesi, Dodgers N.L.1996 Derek Jeter, Yankees A.L.1997 Scott Rolen, Phillies N.L.

Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox A.L.2001 Albert Pujols, Cardinals N.L.2008 Evan Longoria, Rays A.L.2011 Craig Kimbrel, Braves N.L.2012 Mike Trout, Angels A.L.2014 Jose Abreu, White Sox A.L.

MVPYear Player, Team League1935 Hank Greenberg, Tigers A.L.1936 Carl Hubbell, Giants N.L.1953 Al Rosen, Indians A.L.1956 Mickey Mantle, Yankees A.L.1961 Frank Robinson, Reds N.L.1966 Frank Robinson, Orioles A.L.1967 Orlando Cepeda, Cardinals N.L.1968 Denny McLain, Tigers A.L.1973 Reggie Jackson, A’s A.L.1980 Mike Schmidt, Phillies N.L.1988 Jose Canseco, A’s A.L.1993 Frank Thomas, White Sox A.L.1994 Jeff Bagwell, Astros N.L.1996 Ken Caminiti, Padres N.L.1997 Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners A.L.2002 Barry Bonds, Giants N.L.2009 Albert Pujols, Cardinals N.L.2014 Mike Trout, Angels A.L.

CY YOUNGYear Pitcher, Team League1963 Sandy Koufax, Dodgers N.L.1965 Sandy Koufax, Dodgers N.L.1966 Sandy Koufax, Dodgers N.L.1968 Bob Gibson, Cardinals N.L.

Denny McLain, Tigers A.L.1972 Steve Carlton, Phillies N.L.1978 Ron Guidry, Yankees A.L.1984 Rick Sutcliffe, Cubs N.L.1985 Dwight Gooden, Mets N.L.1986 Roger Clemens, Red Sox A.L.1988 Orel Hershiser, Dodgers N.L.1994 Greg Maddux, Braves N.L.1995 Greg Maddux, Braves N.L.1998 Roger Clemens, Blue Jays A.L.1999 Pedro Martinez, Red Sox A.L.2000 Pedro Martinez, Red Sox A.L.2002 Randy Johnson, D’backs N.L.2004 Johan Santana, Twins A.L.2006 Johan Santana, Twins A.L.2007 Jake Peavy, Padres N.L.2010 Roy Halladay, Phillies N.L.2011 Justin Verlander, Tigers A.L.2014 Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers N.L.

Norman JacobsPublisher

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THOMAS EARNED HIS SPOT IN HOF

I respectfully disagreewith the assertion madeby a fan in the Nov./Dec. issue that FrankThomas isn’t deserving ofbeing in the Hall ofFame. The letter writerstates, “Thomas was agood DH (BA .301) andnot a position player.”

Thomas was one of themost devastating right-handed hitters of alltime. His slugging per-centage of .555 ranks 14thin history for right-hand-ed hitters, and four ofthose ahead of him(McGwire, Ramirez, Gon-

zalez, A-Rod) have either admitted to or been suspected ofsteroid use.

The BBWAA states, “Voting shall be based upon theplayer’s record, playing ability,integrity, sportsmanship, character,and contributions to the team(s) onwhich the player played.” Amongother positive attributes, Thomaswas at the forefront of trans-parency during the steroid era,encouraging Major LeagueBaseball to test players, provingthat he never engaged in per-formance-enhancing drugs.

Thomas had a .337 career BAas a first baseman, and a .275mark as a DH, proving that histime in the field was beneficialto his offensive game. Heplayed 969 games at firstbase, and currently ranks inthe top 30 all-time in HR,RBI, SLG, OBP, OPS, andextra-base hits. If he werejust an above-average hit-ter who didn’t play in thefield at all, I would agreewith the letter writer’s com-ments. However, FrankThomas was one of thegreatest hitters ever, anddeserves his place inCooperstown. Joe Book

Lombard, IL

HALL OF FAME CANDIDATESIn reference to the article “Best Players Not in The Hall

of Fame,” in the Nov./Dec. issue, I have a candidate: PeteBrowning. He led the league in batting three times andbatted .341 lifetime, the third highest of anyone playingbefore 1893.

In addition, he did this while afflicted with mastoidi-tis (an infection that extends to the air cells of the skullbehind the ear) throughout his career. Perhaps since hehas been gone from the scene for so many years, his namedoesn't come up very often anymore. Maybe the VeteransCommittee will take another look at him. Peter Blake

Mansfield, TX

I liked your article about “Best Players Not in The Hallof Fame.” I think you should have included Gil Hodges.

During the decade of the 1950s, he was second in totalhomers (326 to 310) and RBI (1,031 to 1,001). Only DukeSnider had more. Hodges was the first winner of the GoldGlove at his position. After he retired, he went on to man-age the New York Mets to their first championship.

Hodges was a gentleman and a team player and leader.And, unlike Bonds or Clemens, he didn’t need drugs toperform.

Hodges should have beenelected 40 years ago. I nevercould understand why he wasn’t.

Rollo J. GianniniNorwalk, CT

MANTLE FELL SHORT OF .300

At my first baseball game,Mickey Mantle’s three hitsdrove in all New York’s runs atFenway Park in a 3-2 win inAugust 1957. Your argumentthat he missed out on the 12 hits

to have a .300 averagebecause of spacious Yankee Stadium is absurd.

Most teams back then rarely had three fleet-footed fly chasers and that huge pasture meant

that more line drives and bloops could drop in,not fewer. Plus he had the right field Band

Box seats as an extremely reachable home-run target. True, only one more hit per sea-

son would have done it, but to blame hisold park is ridiculous.

By the way, Mick needed 16 hitsfor a real .300 average, instead of

a “rounded off” accomplish-ment. R. Dixie Tourangeau

Boston, MAWe’ll stand by our state-

ments. We did not claimthat Yankee Stadium was

the only obstacle that pre-vented Mantle from fin-ishing his career with alifetime batting aver-age of .300 or higher,but it did play a fac-tor in his falling

MICKEYMANTLE


During his 18-year career,

Gil Hodges hit 30or more home

runs six times anddrove in 100 or

more runs sevenyears in a row.

FRANK THOMAS

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short. Many former teammates and opponents contend thatMantle lost several hits a year on deep flyballs that werepulled in by outfielders. The dimensions at old YankeeStadium extended more than 400 feet from home plate to thefences in left and right-center field, and straightaway centerwas more than 450 feet.

Mantle also lost his opportunity to hit .300 because of hisserious knee injuries, which compromised his great speed.Add to that Mantle’s own belief that he should have takenbetter care of himself during his playing days.

That being said, Mantle was a career .298 hitter. He saidone of his biggest regrets was not finishing his career with a.300 average, noting that he should have retired after the1966 season. After ’66, Mantle had a .305 career mark, but heplayed his final two years at first base while in constant painbecause of his knees, and hit a combined .241.

HEARTBREAKERSIn regards to the Sept./Oct. 2014 issue that featured the

story “Heartbreakers,” I believe the 1967 Red Sox/Cardinals World Series would qualify, more so than the’75 Series.

The '67 Sox team was not supposed to contend in theAmerican League pennant race. They had not had a win-ning season since 1958, had not been to the Series in over20 years and had not won a Fall Classic since 1918.

Led by Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Lonborg, theImpossible Dream Red Sox held off several teams and wonthe A.L. pennant on the last day of the season. This wasbefore division playoffs and wild cards. They went on tolose the Series in seven games when a tired Cy YoungAward winner did not have enough left to beat a futureHall of Famer, breaking the hearts of New England andthe rest of what would later be called Red Sox Nation.

Mike Lanier Stafford Springs, CT

I am sure I speak for many baseball fans when I say I wassurprised at the omission of the 1986 Boston Red Sox (lost toN.Y. Mets in seven) from the entertaining “Heartbreakers”article in the Sept./Oct. issue.

While many are likely tired of watching that ball rollthrough Bill Buckner’s legs, the fact of the matter is thatBoston had an excellent hitting, pitching and defensiveteam. Boston was looking to break what was already a 67-year World Series drought. They were not only up two runsin the 10th inning of the famous (or infamous, dependingupon which dugout you were perched in) sixth game, butwere also up 3-0 after five-and-a-half innings of Game 7.

Heartbreaking? More like Heart SMASHING.Eric A. Wasserfall, Esq.

Little Silver, NJ


CHAMPION ROYALSThe Kansas City Royals won

the A.L. pennant last seasonwith the best bullpen in themajors—Kelvin Herrera, WadeDavis and Greg Holland werethe best seventh, eighth andninth inning relievers inthe game. The Royalsalso had a solid start-ing pitching staff, butthe leading winnerswere James Shieldsand rookie YordanoVentura with 14 vic-tories.

How many otherteams have won a pen-nant without a pitcherwinning at least 15games?

Ken WaltersRichmond, MO

Last season, theRoyals became theeighth team in majorleague history to wina pennant withouthaving a pitcher win15 or more games.See the accompanyingchart.

JAMESSHIELDS

Pennant-Winners Without A Pitcher With 15 Victories

YEAR PENNANT WINNER TOP WINNING PITCHER(S) W1979 Pittsburgh Pirates John Candelaria 14

1987 St. Louis Cardinals Danny Cox 11Greg Mathews 11Bob Forsch 11

2002 San Francisco Giants Russ Ortiz 14Kirk Rueter 14

2003 Florida Marlins Brad Penny 14Mark Redman 14Dontrelle Willis 14

2008 Tampa Bay Rays James Shields 14Edwin Jackson 14

2009 Philadelphia Phillies Joe Blanton 12J.A. Happ 12Jamie Moyer 12

2011 St. Louis Cardinals Kyle Lohse 14

2014 Kansas City Royals James Shields 14Yordano Ventura 14

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AND THE RULING IS . . . “E”The Sept./Oct. 2014 issue of Baseball Digest was excel-

lent. The postseason articles were of great interest, how-ever, I noticed two errors regarding bench players andpitchers for the All-Time Word Series All-Stars.

The writer stated that Yogi Berra homered twice inGame 7 as the Yanks beat the BrooklynDodgers in 1957. The proper year for thatoccurrence was 1956. He also stated thatMonte Pearson, a Yankee pitcher, was along-forgotten “lefty.” Pearson was aright-hander.

I would appreciate if you couldprint Pearson’s career stats andalso his postseason stats sincehe was a terrific World Seriesperformer. Joe Simone

Brooklyn, NYPearson was a right-han-

der who pitched 10 seasonsin the majors with theIndians (1932-1935), Yankees(1936-1940) and Reds (1941). Hefinished his career with a 100-61record (.621), a 4.00 ERA, fiveshutouts and 703 strikeouts in 1,429.2innings pitched.

As a rookie with Cleveland in 1933, hewon the A.L. ERA title with a 2.33 markand posted a 10-5 record. His best seasonwas 1936, when he finished 19-7 for theYankees.

Pearson helped guide New York to fourpennants and four World Series titles from1936-1939. He started one game in each FallClassic, compiling a 4-0 record with oneshutout, three complete games, 28 strike-outs in 35.2 innings, and a 1.01 ERA.

RETIRE TIGERS NUMBERSI’ve been following baseball for 45 years, and there’s

something I can’t seem to understand. How is it that theDetroit Tigers have not retired the numbers of Bill Freehan(11), Norm Cash (25), Lou Whitaker (1), and Alan Trammell(3)? Perhaps some of your Tiger fans can enlighten me.

I realize that No. 11 has beenretired to honor Sparky Anderson’scontribution to the 1984 World Serieschampionship team, but I have tothink that Michigan native BillFreehan is just as deserving of thatrecognition. He spent his entire 15-year career playing for his hometownteam. In those 15 years, Freehan wasan 11-time All-Star catcher and wonfive Gold Gloves, while handling thepitching staff for the 1968 WorldSeries championship team. He was no slouch at the plateeither, posting a respectable .262 lifetime batting averagewhile slugging 200 HR.

Although Norm Cash came up through the White Soxorganization, he is best remembered for spending the final15 years of his career with the Tigers. In his second yearwith Detroit he batted a league-leading .361 in 1961. He wasa four-time All-Star first baseman who is second only to AlKaline on the franchise’s all-time home-run list. He was a

vital cog in the success ofthat ’68 team.

Next is the 1978American League Rookie

of the Year, Lou Whitaker—a five-time All-Star who

spent his entire 19-year careerplaying for the Tigers. He won three

Gold Gloves at second base and fourSilver Sluggers. He was the second baseman

on the 1984 Tigers team that had the greateststart in the history of baseball, going 35-5 en route

to the World Series title. Whitaker also playedalongside shortstop Alan Trammell to form

the longest-tenured double play combina-tion in the history of the sport.

During the 20 years that Trammellplayed for the Tigers, he had the mis-

fortune of being overshadowed byHall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. andRobin Yount, but he was every bit asgood as they were. A six-time All-Star, Trammell managed to win fourGold Gloves and three SilverSluggers over those notable Hallof Famers, while anchoring theshortstop position for the 1984Tigers.

Now there are some who mayargue that these four All-Starsbelong in the Hall of Fame,but I will assert that they defi-nitely deserve to have theirnumbers retired!

Russell A. BergtoldChicago, IL


BILLFREEHAN

With the Tigers, catcher Bill Freehan was an 11-timeAll-Star and helped guideDetroit to a World Serieschampionship in 1968.

ALAN TRAMMELL

YOGIBERRA

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Yogi Berra clubbedtwo home runs inGame 7 of the 1956World Series againstthe BrooklynDodgers.

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MANAGER LACKING SENSE OF DRAMA

Once, when PrestonGomez was manager of theSan Diego Padres, he sentup a pinch-hitter for pitch-er Clay Kirby, who waspitching a no-hitter. Therewas no score in the gameand Gomez was trying toput runs on the board.

He did the same thingin 1974 as manager of theHouston Astros. DonWilson was pitching a no-hitter, but the Astros werebeing shutout, so Gomezsent up a pinch-hitter.

My question is, whatwere the results of the two games in which Gomez usedpinch-hitters for pitchers throwing a no-hitter?

According to one writer, “Preston Gomez had no senseof drama.” Norman Burr

Humble, TXThe first game took place at San Diego Stadium on July 21,

1970, when Padres starting pitcher Clay Kirby pitched eighthitless innings, but trailed the Mets, 1-0. He was lifted for apinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth frame.

The Mets scored their run in the first inning after Kirbywalked leadoff hitter Tommie Agee, who stole second beforeBud Harrelson popped out to short for the first out. KenSingleton followed with a walk and then Agee and Singletonpulled off a double steal to put runners on second and thirdwith one out. Agee scored when Art Shamsky grounded out tosecond. The inning ended when Cleon Jones struck out.

New York’s Jim McAndrew was throwing a three-hitshutout. With only four outs remaining and his club trailingby a run, Padres manager Preston Gomez used Cito Gaston topinch-hit for Kirby with two outs in the eighth. Gaston struckout and the Mets scored two runs in the top of the ninth tosecure a 3-0 victory. McAndrew pitched nine shutout innings,allowing only three hits and no walks. He fanned nine SanDiego hitters.

A similar game occurred on September 4, 1974, whenAstros pitcher Don Wilson held Cincinnati hitless for eightinnings, but trailed the Reds, 2-1. He was pinch-hit for in thebottom of the eighth.

The Reds scored their two runs in the top of the fifth, whenCesar Geronimo led off with a walk. After Dave Concepcionstruck out, a walk to George Foster and a sacrifice bunt bypitcher Jack Billingham put runners on second and thirdwith two outs. Then Pete Rose reached first base on an errorby Houston shortstop Roger Metzger, allowing two runs tocross the plate.

In the bottom of the eighth, Wilson was scheduled to leadoff, but manager Gomez used Tommy Helms to bat for him.Helms grounded out to short before Greg Gross and Metzgersingled. The inning ended when Cesar Cedeno struck out andMetzger was out attempting to steal second.

The Reds won the game, 2-1, with Billingham working nineinnings, allowing seven hits, one unearned run and no walks,and registering three strikeouts.

MOST NO-HITTERS CAUGHTCould you tell me what catcher has caught the most no-

hitters? Glen RochaHawaiian Gardens, CA

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek holds the record for catchingthe most no-hitters with four. He was the receiver for no-hitgames pitched by Hideo Nomo in 2001, Derek Lowe in 2002,Clay Buchholz in 2007 and Jon Lester in 2008. There are 14other catchers who caught three no-hit games during theirbig league career. They are listed below with the pitchers’names in parentheses.

• Flint Silver (Larry Corcoran,1880 and 1882, and John Clarkson,1885)

• Ed McFarland (RedDonahue, 1898, JimCallahan, 1902, and FrankSmith, 1905)

• Bill Carrigan (JoeWood, 1911, Rube Foster,1916, and Dutch Leonard,1916)

• Ray Schalk (Joe Benz,1914, Eddie Cicotte, 1917,and Charlie Robertson,1922)

• Val Picinich (Joe Bush,1916, Walter Johnson, 1920,and Howard Ehmke, 1923)

• Luke Sewell (WesFerrell, 1931, VernKennedy, 1935, and BillDietrich, 1937)

• Jim Hegan (Don Black,1947, Bob Lemon, 1948, andBob Feller, 1951)

• Yogi Berra (AllieReynolds (2), 1951, and Don Larsen, 1956)

• Roy Campanella(Carl Erskine, 1952 and1956, and Sal Maglie, 1956)

• Del Crandell (JimWilson, 1954, LewBurdette, 1960, andWarren Spahn, 1960)

• Jeff Torborg (SandyKoufax, 1965, Bill Singer,1970, and Nolan Ryan,1973)

• Alan Ashby (KenForsch, 1979, Nolan Ryan,1981, and Mike Scott, 1986)

• Charles Johnson (AlLeiter, 1996, Kevin Brown,1997, and A.J. Burnett,2001)

• Carlos Ruiz (RoyHalladay (2), 2010, andcombined no-hitter, 2014)


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ALTUVE JOINS SELECT GROUPI was really impressed with the season Jose Altuve of the

Astros had last season, winning the A.L. batting title with a.341 average, topping the majors with 225 hits and swipingan A.L.-best 56 bases.

How many other players have collected 220 or more hits,with 30-plus stolen bases and a .340 batting average in thesame season? Jim Schafer

Seattle, WAIn 2014, Jose Altuve became only the seventh player since

1900 to collect 220 or more hits, 30 or more stolen bases andpost a .340 or higher batting average in the same season.Setting the bar higher, he joins Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, GeorgeSisler and Ichiro Suzuki as the only players with 220 or morehits, a .340 or higher batting average and at least 50 stolenbases in the same season. See the accompanying chart.

EXCLUSIVE CLUBOn 14 occasions since 1900, seven different players have batted

.340 or higher with 220 or more hits and 30 or more stolen basesin the same season.

YEAR PLAYER, TEAM HITS BA SB1911 Ty Cobb, Tigers 248 .420 831911 Joe Jackson, Indians 233 .408 411912 Ty Cobb, Tigers 226 .409 611912 Joe Jackson, Indians 226 .395 351912 Tris Speaker, Red Sox 222 .383 521917 Ty Cobb, Tigers 225 .383 551920 George Sisler, Browns 257 .407 421922 George Sisler, Browns 246 .420 511925 Kiki Cuyler, Pirates 220 .357 411930 Kiki Cuyler, Cubs 228 .355 372001 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 242 .350 562004 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 262 .372 362007 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 238 .351 372014 Jose Altuve, Astros 225 .341 56

TRIPLE CROWN OF AWARDSAmong the pitchers who have won a league Most

Valuable Player and Cy Young Award in the same season,have any of those pitchers also won a Gold Glove Award thesame year they captured the other honors?

I think it would amount to the Triple Crown of Awards. Wendy HellerPalmdale, CA

Among the 10 pitchers who have won a league MVP and CyYoung Award in the same season, Bob Gibson is the only oneto add a Gold Glove Award to his collection of honors. In 1968,Gibson not only won the N.L. MVP and Cy Young awards, theCardinals ace was honored for his defensive excellence with aGold Glove.

WORLD SERIES WALKOFFSYour magazine is the best for baseball information. In

reading the Sept./Oct. 2014 issue, page 11, I noticed in the bestWorld Series section, it was noted that Bill Mazeroski was theonly player to hit a walkoff home run in a Game 7 of the WorldSeries. I believe in the 1993 World Series, Toronto vs.Philadelphia, Joe Carter hit a walkoff home run in the bottomof the ninth of the seventh game off Mitch Williams to win theSeries for Toronto. Richard Johnson

Shrewsbury, NJBill Mazeroski and Joe Carter are the only two players to

hit walkoff home runs in a World Series-clinching game.Mazeroski was the only player to do it in a Game 7, as Carter’sgame-winning homer was in Game 6 of the 1993 Fall Classic.

MAKING A POINTThe otherwise fine article about John Smoltz in the

Sept./Oct. issue was marred by the misleading statementthat the Atlanta Braves won 14 straight divisional titlesfrom 1991 through 2005.

The 1994 Braves finished second in their division, sixgames behind the Montreal Expos.

MLB’s Ministry of Truth (in reality Falsehood) claimsthat the absence of playoffs that year negates divisionstandings. By that line of reasoning, neither the 1904Boston Red Sox nor the 1904 New York Giants won pen-nants because there was no World Series that year.

Myrmidons of Bud Selig may be forced to perpetuate thefalse statement about the Braves. You as an independentpublication have an obligation to print the truth.

The players and owners irrevocably damaged baseball bytheir selfish actions in 1994, both thumbing their noses atfans. The owners should have called up replacement playersto fill the rosters. If major league baseball could survivethree wartime years with many players of lesser abilitiesthan 1942 players, then it certainly could have survived thestrike that ended the 1994 season prematurely.

Walter Dunn TuckerRichmond, VA

You make a fine argument. If the belief that no divisionchampion could be declared because no playoffs were played,one could also argue that no batting or pitching titles shouldhave been awarded since the season was not completed.

BASEBALL DIGEST WELCOMES LETTERS FROM READERS. Full name, city and state or province must be included. Mail to:

The Fans Speak Out, Baseball Digest, 990 Grove Street, Evanston, IL60201-4370 or email to: [email protected]


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S an Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner finished the2014 regular season with 18 victories, most on hisclub and tied for fourth in the majors. His 2.98 ERA

was 14th best in the National League. He was one of 13pitchers in the big leagues with 200 or more strikeouts(219), and one of 33 with 200 or more innings pitched(217.1).

But Bumgarner’s success was not defined by his consis-tency during the season. It was displayed through hisdominance during the postseason, when he helped theGiants become the sixth wild-card team to capture aWorld Series title.

The 24-year old left-hander evoked Fall Classic memo-ries of Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson, whom he joined bybecoming the 26th pitcher to win World Series MVP hon-ors. And Bumgarner is the fourth pitcher to win postsea-son MVP awards in the League Championship Series andWorld Series in the same season—joining Orel Hershiser

(1988), Livan Hernandez (1997) and Cole Hamels (2008).“He’s the type of guy you want out there on the mound

for your team,” said Giants general manager BrianSabean. “He’ll do whatever it takes to win. He has tremen-dous confidence in his ability and in the talent we have onthis team, and it allows him to perform at a high level. Hewas so relaxed during this postseason. He was in com-mand, with great control and movement on his pitches,that he had few stressful innings, which allowed him towork deep into games.”

Bumgarner’s postseason performance was magnifi-cent: a 4-1 record, 1.03 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 52.2innings. In the World Series, he was almost untouchablewith a 2-0 record, one save and 0.43 ERA. His five-inningsave in Game 7 may have been his most impressive out-ing, since it came three days after he tossed a shutout inGame 5.

With only two days’ rest, which included travel timefrom San Francisco to Kansas City, Bumgarner workedfive scoreless innings after the Giants took a 3-2 lead inthe fourth frame. When the crafty left-hander entered thegame in the bottom of the fifth, he yielded a leadoff singlebefore retiring the next 14 Royals hitters in order. Withtwo out in the bottom of the ninth, Bumgarner was taggedfor a single by Alex Gordon, who advanced to third on anerror by center fielder Gregor Blanco. With the tying run

90 feet away and two out in the ninth in Game 7 at theopponent’s ballpark, Bumgarner was—as the say-

ing goes—as calm as a summer sea. He retiredcatcher Salvador Perez on a foul popup to

third base to clinch the World Serieschampionship.

“He’s such a great pitcher,” said team-mate Hunter Pence. “Despite being so

good and so dominant, he is one of themost humble guys. He’ll get out there anddo anything for us. And that is the biggestthing that he is not: a guy who buildshimself or his accomplishments up. He

shares the credit with everyone else. Henever makes himself bigger than

what it is.” And that is how the Giants have

won in recent history, throughteam effort with big contributorsthroughout the roster.

“The strongest thing this teamhas is unified vision, unified will-ingness to do everything for eachother,” said Pence. “We have atremendous amount of leadershipin our clubhouse, and it’s not anaccident that many of the guyshave several rings. To win, it takes

people who care and look at every

WARMUP TOSSES By Bob Kuenster, Editor

GIANT SUCCESS IN SAN FRANCISCO

By capturing WorldSeries MVP honors

in 2014, MadisonBumgarner joined

such luminaries asSandy Koufax,

Bob Gibson and Orel Hershiser.


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little thing and push eachother, and get the most outof each other. That’s whatour clubhouse is about.We’re a team that works

together and helps each other. That’s kind of the idea ofthis team.”

But in the crowning battles during postseason play, teamsneed a pitcher or two to step up in big-game situations, andin 2014 there is no doubt that Bumgarner was the one pitch-er on the Giants staff who escalated his performance.

In the single-game wild-card match against the Pirates atPNC Park in Pittsburgh, Bumgarner pitched a four-hitshutout with 10 strikeouts on 109 pitches to advance SanFrancisco into the Division Series against the WashingtonNationals.

“He pitched a great game,” Giants manager Bruce Bochysaid. “Crawford’s hit was a big one that put us up four runs,and when you have a lead like that, it helps you perform onthe field better, more relaxed. And Bumgarner just keptpounding the strike zone with good pitches and preventedPittsburgh from creating any scoring opportunities.”

Bumgarner’s only hiccup in the playoffs was taking thedefeat against Washington in Game 3 of the best-of-fiveNLDS. He pitched well, surrendering three runs (twoearned), six hits and one walk, while fanning six in seveninnings. But the Giants offense could only tally one run inthe 4-1 defeat.

Mad Bum was better in the League Championship Seriesagainst the St. Louis Cardinals, earning MVP honors afterhe started two games and worked 15.2 innings. He allowedonly nine hits and three runs. He earned the victory inGame 1 with seven shutout innings. In Game 5, he com-pleted eight innings but did not receive a decision in SanFrancisco’s 6-3 win.

“He’s had awesome stuff,” said first baseman Brandon Belton Bumgarner’s postseason effectiveness. “Hitting his spotsand keeping everybody off balance. He did a great job.”

After compiling 249 innings on the year, Bumgarnerdelivered his finest effort in the World Series. He polished

off the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 with seven solidinnings in a 7-1, victory. In Game 5, his most superb mas-terpiece of the postseason, he shut out the Royals, 5-0,allowing only four hits while striking out eight. And hismost memorable display of artistic pitching came in Game7 after two days’ rest, when he recorded five scorelessinnings in relief to close out the Giants’ 2014 season with aWorld Series championship.

“I haven’t seen a better pitcher over the course of thispostseason,” Bochy said. “This is a special kid who’s talent-ed. He’s pitched so many big games for us.”

His Game 7 heroics stand out because few pitchers in thisera of specialty pitching are regimented to do extensiverelief work on two days’ rest, especially following a com-plete-game, 117-pitch outing.

“You could tell he was on early in the game,” Bochy saidof his relief stint. “He didn’t have any stressful innings andhad great stuff in the eighth, and the same in the ninth. Hegot two quick outs and he was throwing so good. I thoughtabout taking him out, and we had it covered if he ran intoany trouble, but he was throwing so well. We stayed withhim and it paid off.”

Bumgarner’s MVP performance not only captured theadmiration of fans and media members, but also that of histeammates and opponents.

“Pretty impressive,” said catcher Buster Posey, “pitchingthis deep into the season in October. And the amount ofinnings he has on his arm, to be that sharp and that domi-nant.”

“That guy’s phenomenal,” added Royals third basemanMike Moustakas, who was 1-for-7 with two strikeoutsagainst the Giants ace. “When you think he’s going to throwsomething, he throws the opposite.”

“Same old Madison,” said teammate Brandon Crawford.“He doesn’t change, no matter how big the stage is. You canlook at him in the middle of the game and it looks like he’sjust pitching a game in the middle of June. He doesn’t reallychange his approach. He’s such a good competitor. It doesn’tsurprise me that he goes out and pitches a game like this.”

With Bumgarner, the admiration goes both ways. “I just

WARMUP TOSSES


“I haven’t seen a betterpitcher over the course ofthis postseason. This is aspecial kid who’s talented.He’s pitched so many biggames for us.”—BRUCE BOCHY

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go out and make pitches and hope things turn out yourway,” he said, “and fortunately for me they have beenwith a little luck on my side.

“Our defense made some really good plays behind meand we created runs when we needed them,” he contin-ued. “That’s the kind of team we have here, workingtogether and supporting each other. Every one con-tributes and it seems to be a different guy every game.That’s how we win.”

The San Francisco Giants’ World Series title in 2014made them the fourth franchise in major league histo-ry to win three World Series within a five-year span,joining the Philadelphia/Oakland A’s, Boston Red Soxand New York Yankees. The fascinating aspect behindthe Giants’ championship run is that they accom-plished the feat with many different key players in eachtitle year.

Catcher Buster Posey and third baseman PabloSandoval are the only two regulars to star on all threeWorld Series-winning teams. But in their three postsea-son runs, the Giants were led by different starting acesand closers each year—Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson(2010), Matt Cain and Sergio Romo (2012), and MadisonBumgarner and Santiago Casilla (2014).

Some may say luck had a lot to do with the Giants’ WorldSeries titles, but as Branch Rickey once said, “Luck is theresidue of design.”

General manager Brian Sabean did not build his club

with an all-star lineup of free agents, but with players whoplay the game hard and do the little things that create awinning atmosphere on the field and in the clubhouse.

So, digging into the Giants’ recipe for success, here arethe ingredients to a World Series title: talent, team chem-istry, luck and Madison Bumgarner. BD


JACK BILLINGHAM SANDY KOUFAX BABE RUTH

MADISONBUMGARNER

Pitchers with Lowest Career World Series ERA(Minimum 25 innings pitched)

PITCHER W-L IP ER SO ERAMadison Bumgarner 4-0 36.0 1 31 0.25Jack Billingham 2-0 25.1 1 19 0.36Harry Brecheen 4-1 32.2 3 18 0.83Babe Ruth 3-0 31.0 3 8 0.87Sherry Smith 1-2 30.1 3 5 0.89Sandy Koufax 4-3 57.0 6 61 0.95Christy Mathewson 5-5 101.2 11 48 0.97Mariano Rivera 2-1 36.1 4 32 0.99Hippo Vaughn 1-2 27.0 3 17 1.00Monte Pearson 4-0 35.2 4 28 1.01

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MIKETROUTANGELS' FIVE-TOOL STAR

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

I t’s human nature to notice flaws in even the mostprecious of gems, which is why, when scanningMike Trout’s Baseball Reference page, the eye is

drawn to the bold-faced “184” under the strikeouts col-umn of his 2014 batting line.

Trout, 23, has had a remarkable three-year start tohis big league career, one that compares favorably to

the likes of Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig,Mickey Mantle and current Angels teammate Albert

Pujols, depending on which statistics are bundled.Among Trout’s 98 career homers, 15 have trav-

eled 440 feet or more, according to ESPN’shome-run tracker. They include a prodigious489-foot blast in Kansas City on June 27, thelongest in the major leagues in 2014. Troutalso blazes from home to first in about 3.9 sec-onds—the average major league time is 4.3seconds.

“His combination of speed and power isincredible,” Chicago Cubs manager Joe

Maddon said. “It’s really rare. He’s an anomaly, aprodigy.”

Asked to define Trout’s “ceiling,” a scouting termused to describe a player’s maximum upside, Maddonsmiled and said, “The Sistine Chapel.”

Trout won the 2014 American League Most ValuablePlayer Award after batting .287 with a .377 on-base per-centage, .561 slugging percentage, 36 homers and aleague-leading 111 RBI and 115 runs. He is also BaseballDigest’s Player of the Year.

All of which begs the question: How does a dynamicplayer who led the Angels to a major league-best 98-64

Los Angeles outfielder helped his club to a division title and

the best record in the majorswith his all-around play and

consistent production

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record and their first A.L. West title since 2009 lead theleague with 184 strikeouts, nearly 50 more than he aver-aged over his first two full seasons in the majors?

“He works counts, and when you do that you’re going tocreate hitting counts, walks and strikeouts at times,”Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “I think with everyplayer, you can focus on one stat here or there, and hisstrikeouts are up. But I think that’s a cyclical thing.

“As far as his production numbers go, Mike is off thecharts. He’s an incredible player. He has a game plan, anunderstanding, and his swing is short enough to whereeven though he’s extremely productive now, with experi-ence, those strikeouts will be tamed a bit.”

Trout’s league-leading strikeout total may simply be anaberration. After all, he still posted or matched careerhighs with 39 doubles, nine triples, 36 homers and 111 RBI.And his .561 slugging mark was in line with his other fullseasons.

“Sometimes you get a little anxious,” Trout said ofimproving against high pitches and lowering his strikeouttotal, “and when you get anxious out there, you try to dotoo much and you swing at those pitches. I'd say themajority of them were balls, just trying to do so much withthe baseball. It just looks so big and you get so big, and youjust swing through it.”

“It’s not like he’s striking out and hitting .240; he’s hit-ting almost .300 with 35 homers and 100 RBI,” Oaklandcloser Sean Doolittle said in late September. “Shoot, youcan’t have it all. It’s not fair as it is right now.

“You can jam him, break his bat, think you have an out,and he busts his tail to first and beats it out. Then he stealssecond and you have a runner in scoring position. Thereare so many different ways he can beat you. He’s just areally dangerous player.”

Trout, who led the American League with 110 walks in2013, saw more pitches—3,136—than any player in themajor leagues last season. His 184-83 strikeout-walk ratio

was off compared to his first two stellar seasons, and hisaverage dipped to .287 after he batted .324 in 2012 and2013 combined.

With Trout’s power and speed, however, rebalancing hiswalks and strikeouts should keep him on a similar careerpath as Pujols, his Angels teammate who has recordedmore walks than strikeouts and batted .328 with a .420OBP and .617 slugging percentage while averaging 40homer and 120 RBI in his first 11 seasons with St. Louis.

“His average and OBP would be where it was in 2013(.323/.432) with 35-40 homers and more than 100 RBI,”Angels reliever Joe Smith said of Trout, who turns 24 inAugust. “Then you’re looking at what Pujols did for 11straight years, and there are not many guys like that.That’s crazy.”

It’s not so far-fetched when you consider Trout’s workethic and devotion to his craft. Completing a meteoric riseto the top of the game isn’t enough for Trout; he wants to

stay there; he wants World Series rings.“He has a ton of natural ability, but I think what really

separates him is how hard he works and how competitivehe is,” former Angels catcher Hank Conger said. “He’s verytalented, but he’s always pushing to become better.

“You don’t see too many guys who are that young, andhave so much success like he has, stay that focused. It’stough to try to motivate guys who are that great, but hemotivates himself each and every day to get better.”

Neither fame nor fortune has affected Trout, whosigned a six-year, $144.5-million contract extension in lateMarch, a pact that begins this spring and assures Troutwill be an Angel through 2020.

When Trout was 18, one scout compared him to Mantle.A first-round pick out of Millville (N.J.) High School in2009, Trout was already being touted as the best all-around player in the game by the end of his first full sea-son in 2012, when he was making the major league-mini-mum salary.


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“He’s bigger, faster and stronger thananyone, he works just as hard as every-

body else, and he has just the rightamount of confidence and poise.”

—CHRIS IANNETTA

Trout inked endorsement deals with Nike, Subway, J&JSnack Foods and BodyArmor SuperDrink that winter. By 2013,he was a superstar, recognized and hounded by autograph-seekers everywhere he went.

In August of 2013, Trout and his parents tried to sneak out theside of the New York Palace Hotel by having a cab back into aparking garage. Six or seven young men spotted Trout and,with pens and baseballs in hand, pursued his car for 10 blocks.The stoplights allowed them to keep up until the cab stopped ata Times Square eatery.

“They were chasing us through the city, knocking on the win-dow of the cab,” said Debbie Trout, Mike’s mother. “You knowhow traffic is there. It was crazy.”

The men were rewarded when Trout signed after dinner …two hours later. “They never let go,” Trout said with a chuckle.“You want it that bad, you get it.”

Such is the price of being on the cover of Sports Illustratedthree times and gracing the covers of ESPN the Magazine, Men’sHealth and GQ by the time you’ve turned 22.

“I enjoy it, but sometimes it gets overwhelming,” Trout said.“You want to be yourself, a guy who can go anywhere and notbe bothered, but it goes with the territory.”

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Trout has the All-American looks of aGil Thorp comic strip character—he’s built like an NFL runningback, with a blond crew cut, narrow eyes, square jaw and boyishgrin—and a reputation to match. He plays with a grit and a humil-ity that have endeared him to teammates and opponents alike.

“There’s a fine line between cocky and confident—he’s confi-dent but doesn’t cross over and appear cocky at all,” Detroitcloser Joe Nathan said. “That’s a credit to the veterans overthere and to his family, his upbringing.”

What makes Trout so good? “He’s bigger, faster and stronger than anyone, he works just

as hard as everybody else, and he has just the right amount of

In his first three full seasons, Mike Trout has placed second twice and first once in the voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.


PLAYER OF THE YEAR

MIKE TROUT, AngelsAlthough Trout’s strikeouts spiked in 2014, he still tallied 115 runsand 111 RBI—both league-leading totals—and hetopped all major leaguers in extra-base hits and totalbases. Most of his 2014 raw numbers were comparableto his first two major league campaigns. Trout matchedhis 39 doubles of 2013 and posted career highs inhomers (36) and RBI. His batting average dipped to .287,the first time he hit below .300 in three full seasons, andhis .377 OBP is the lowest in that span. But he led the Angels tothe American League West title and most of his major leaguebrethren would love to post his hitting percentages.

VICTOR MARTINEZ, TigersOnly eight major league regulars posted an OPS higher than .900last season, and Martinez led the way at .974. He alsotopped the A.L. with a .409 OBP and ranked among theleaders with 33 doubles, 32 homers and 103 RBI. On topof that, he struck out just 42 times. That’s remarkableproduction for a 35-year-old veteran who spent most of adecade behind the plate before settling into DH dutieswith the Tigers in 2011. Martinez has batted .321 andslugged .487 since coming to Detroit, numbers good enough toinspire the Tigers to give him a four-year deal in the weeks leadingup to his 36th birthday.

GIANCARLO STANTON, MarlinsIf not for a pitch to the face on Sept. 11, resulting in multiplefacial fractures and dental damage, Stanton might haveled the majors in several offensive categories. He stillled the National League with 37 homers and a .555 slug-ging percentage, and finished second with 105 RBI. HisRBI total marked the first time he reached triple-digits,and he set personal highs as well with 89 runs, 31 dou-bles, 94 walks, a .395 OBP and 13 steals. Stanton is amonster at 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, yet he stole 13 bags in 14attempts. Stanton already has 154 home runs, which makes iteasy to forget he just turned 25.

ANDREW McCUTCHEN, PiratesThe 2013 N.L. MVP lost the 2014 vote to Clayton Kershaw, thoughMcCutchen was equally productive in his followup sea-son. He batted .314 and topped the league in both OBP(.410) and OPS (.952)—the first time he ranked first inthe N.L. in any hitting percentage—and once again ledthe Pirates to a playoff berth. McCutchen has been anelite performer the last three seasons, batting.320/.405/.534 and averaging 184 hits, 98 runs, 35 dou-bles, 26 homers, 88 RBI and 22 stolen bases a year. He swiped apersonal-low 18 bags in 2014, but was caught only three times,good for a career-best .857 steal percentage.

JOSE BAUTISTA, Blue JaysWith 101 runs and 103 RBI, Bautista was one of just three play-ers—along with Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera—to posttriple digits in both categories. And with 104 walks and96 strikeouts, he and Victor Martinez were the only majorleaguers with double-digit homers to put up more walksthan strikeouts. That allowed Bautista to post a stellar.403 OBP, one of only three players to top the .400plateau. Throw in 27 doubles and 35 homers, and you geta .928 OPS that ranked sixth in the majors. Another fine season forToronto’s most productive hitter.

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JOSE ABREU, White SoxNot only was Abreu the most productive rookie of the 2014 class,the slugger ranked among the game’s elite in his debut. Among

all big leaguers, his .964 OPS trailed only the .974 markposted by Detroit’s Victor Martinez. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Abreu, who signed with the White Sox last winterafter defecting from Cuba the previous summer, hit fromthe start. He set rookie records for April with 10 homeruns and 31 RBI, and made more consistent contact as theseason progressed. Abreu batted .350 in the second half

and finished with a .317 average, 36 homers, 107 RBI and amajor league-leading .581 slugging percentage.

MIGUEL CABRERA, TigersCabrera failed to win his fourth straight batting title and thirdstraight MVP Award, but even with a drop in his production, he

still ranked among the game’s best. His slugging percent-age and OPS fell by more than 100 points from 2013, butboth his .524 slugging mark and .895 OPS placed amongthe top seven in the A.L. Cabrera led the junior circuit indoubles (52), and Trout was the only big leaguer to top his78 extra-base hits. In his seventh season in Detroit,Cabrera batted .313, his lowest single-season average

since his first year with the Tigers in 2008. That usually wouldn’tcause a career batting average to dip, but Cabrera’s did—to .320.

MICHAEL BRANTLEY, IndiansIn a breakout season, the 27-year-old Brantley delivered hittingpercentages of .327/.385/.506 with 45 doubles, 20 homers, 97

RBI, 23 steals and only one caught stealing. The left-hand-ed hitter made consistent contact all season. He fannedonly 56 times in 676 plate appearances and stroked exact-ly 200 hits, making him one of only two big leaguers toreach the 200 plateau. Cleveland is enjoying its only sub-stantial payoff on a 2008 trade that shipped staff ace CCSabathia to Milwaukee for four prospects, including

Brantley. Before last season, Cleveland smartly signed Brantley toa contract extension that should keep him in the middle of thebatting order through at least 2018.

JOSE ALTUVE, AstrosThe other big leaguer to reach 200 hits in 2014 was Altuve, whotallied 225 and posted a .341 batting average that was the high-

est in the majors. En route to his first A.L. batting crown,the 24-year-old second baseman also powered 47 doublesand stole a league-leading 56 bases. After being caughtroughly once in every three steal attempts in his first twofull seasons, Altuve was thrown out just nine times in2014, good for an .862 steal percentage. His.341/.377/.453 slash line is quite an improvement over his

.283/.316/.363 mark in 2013. His improvement at his young agebodes well for the prospect-rich Astros.

NELSON CRUZ, OriolesAfter Cruz was suspended 50 games for a PED violation as a

Texas Ranger in August 2013, Baltimore took a flyer onhim last winter. Cruz paid big dividends in 2014, postingteam highs with 32 doubles, 40 homers and 108 RBI, andthe Orioles rolled to their first A.L. East title since 1997.He led the majors in home runs, and his homer and RBItotals were career bests in a career year. In his last sixseasons, including five with Texas, the 33-year-old Cruz

has slugged .516 and averaged 29 doubles, 29 homers and 86RBI a year. His big 2014 landed a four-year deal with Seattle.

TOP PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

confidence and poise,” Angels catcher Chris Iannetta said.“He’s level-headed, even with as much fame and stardom as hehas. He’s becoming the face of baseball, and he’s handled itreally well.”

Ah, there’s that label, which has been attached to Trout eversince New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter announced lastspring that 2014 would be his 20th and final season.

Uneasy can be the head that wears the “face of baseball”crown. But it seems a comfortable fit for Trout, who grew upidolizing Jeter and welcomes the responsibilities and pres-sures of replacing him as the game’s most iconic player.

“The way Jeter plays the game, the way he handles himselfon and off the field, that’s how I want to play my game,” Troutsaid. “Every day I try to go out there and have fun, play base-ball, respect the game the way he does. When he’s gone, some-one has to do it, and I’m going to try my best to play my game.If people say the torch is passed, that’s fine. It doesn’t changemy game.”

Jeter rarely provoked controversy on the field or in the club-house, and he had a squeaky-clean public image, remarkableconsidering he spent two decades in the tabloid-driven fishbowl that is New York City. Trout has similar intentions.

“You always have to be careful where you’re at,” Trout said.“I was raised the right way. My parents did a great job of keep-ing me humble. I’m not a guy who is going to brag a lot. It’stough, because there are people out there who are trying to putyou in the wrong spot, but I try to avoid all that.”

Jeter thinks Trout is a worthy successor.“I don’t like the word ‘hype’ around him because it’s all

deserved,” Jeter said of Trout last season. “He can do every-thing. He can beat you in every way. It seems like he has adesire to keep improving. He doesn’t play the game like heknows he has it made.”

It’s not so much Jeter’s image that Trout wants. It’s the jewel-ry. Jeter helped the Yankees win five World Series titles, includ-ing four in five years from 1996-2000. Trout is still searching forhis first playoff win after going 1-for-12 with a homer in threeDivision Series losses to Kansas City in October.

“He won five championship rings—that says it all rightthere,” Trout said of Jeter. “He’s been a part of some greatteams. He wins. I have a lot of respect for that.” BD


YOUNGEST PLAYERS TOWIN A LEAGUE RBI TITLESince 1900, 13 players have captured a league RBItitle before the age of 24, and Ty Cobb did it threetimes. Player’s age is his age at end of the season.

YEAR PLAYER, TEAM RBI AGE1907 Ty Cobb, Tigers 119 20 years, 292 days1939 Ted Williams, Red Sox 145 21 years, 31 days1908 Ty Cobb, Tigers 108 21 years, 292 days1906 Joe Nealon, Pirates 83 21 years, 296 days1909 Ty Cobb, Tigers 107 22 years, 289 days1970 Johnny Bench, Reds 148 22 years, 298 days2014 Mike Trout, Angels 111 23 years, 52 days1907 Sherry Magee, Phillies 85 23 years, 60 days1962 Tommy Davis, Dodgers 153 23 years, 196 days1974 Jeff Burroughs, Rangers 118 23 years, 208 days1957 Hank Aaron, Braves 132 23 years, 236 days1936 Hal Trosky, Indians 162 23 years, 320 days1944 Vern Stephens, Browns 109 23 years, 343 days1924 Goose Goslin, Senators 129 23 years, 349 days1989 Ruben Sierra, Rangers 119 23 years, 360 days

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CLAYTONKERSHAW

PITCHER OF THE YEAR

W hen Clayton Kershaw walked off the moundat Chase Field in the middle of the secondinning on May 17, he did not look like a

pitcher in the midst of an historic season.Kershaw had already made some personal history,

spending time on the disabled list for the first time inhis career. A strained muscle in the back of his leftshoulder sent him to the DL for the first five weeks ofthe 2014 season, soon after his initial start against theArizona Diamondbacks in Australia.

In Kershaw’s third outing after being activated,those same Diamondbacks chased him from that May17 matchup. The reigning National League Cy YoungAward winner retired just five of the 13 batters he faced(one willingly on a sacrifice bunt) and gave up sevenruns in the second inning on six hits, including threedoubles and a triple in a span of six batters.

It was the second-shortest start of Kershaw’s careerand the seven-run inning matched the most runs hehad ever given up in a single inning. He walked off thefield with an unimpressive 4.43 ERA.

A sympathetic reporter after the game opined toKershaw that even the best pitchers have bad days.“But not like this,” a downcast Kershaw responded.

What followed was one of the most dominant runs bya starting pitcher in decades. It took nine more startsbefore Kershaw had given up another seven runs total.

Over 23 starts following that debacle in the desert,Kershaw went 19-2 with a 1.43 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. Heheld opposing players to a .181 batting average and apathetic .485 OPS.

Even after spotting the rest of the league a five-week

DODGERS ACE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

Left-hander put together a historic season in which he led all

major league pitchers in wins, ERA, complete games, WHIP

and winning percentage

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headstart, Kershaw led the majors in ERA (1.77) for anunprecedented fourth consecutive season, wins (21), win-ning percentage (21-3, .875), complete games (6), WHIP(0.86) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.71).

The results earned Kershaw a shelf full of awards thisoffseason, including Baseball Digest’s 2014 Pitcher of theYear Award. The 26-year-old ace also claimed his third CyYoung Award in the past four years and the NationalLeague MVP Award—a double no N.L. pitcher has pulledoff since Bob Gibson in 1968.

“He’s pretty special,” Dodgers manager Don Mattinglysaid of his ace. “Usually, you get guys with great stuff, andthose guys don’t think they have to work as hard. Thenyou get guys who work really hard but have less stuff. Theydo it with fight. Now you get great stuff and a guy who hasall that other stuff. If he stays healthy, he has a chance tobe one of those (Hall of Fame) guys.”

Kershaw was already on that track entering the 2014

season. He was one of just 17 pitchers with multiple CyYoung awards, and one of only five to claim two before his26th birthday.

“It’s just so impressive what he does year after year afteryear,” former Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said ofKershaw, who received 58 of 90 possible first-place voteswhile winning the Cy Young in 2011 and 2013 and finish-ing second to R.A. Dickey in 2012.

“He’s very talented and you’ve got to give him credit forcontinuing to get better with what he’s got,” addedGibson. “He has the will and determination to not stopright at where he’s at. I think that’s what separates him.”

Kershaw did, in fact, manage to get even better duringthe summer of 2014.

On June 18, the southpaw threw the first no-hitter of hiscareer. But he even took that to a different level. His dom-ination of the Colorado Rockies might have been the bestsingle pitching performance in baseball history.

Kershaw held the Rockies hitless, struck out 15 and

missed a perfect game only because of a throwing error byshortstop Hanley Ramirez on a fairly routine groundball.Using a metric devised by stats guru Bill James, whichassigns a game score to a pitching performance, Kershaw’s102 that night was short of only one other outing in themodern era—Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout, one-hit shutoutof the Houston Astros on May 6, 1998.

“He’s every adjective you could think of —he’s unique, spe-cial, just amazing out there,” Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said ofhis close friend and batterymate. “There’s just a relentlesswill to win. He imposes his will on the opposing team.”

Kershaw’s will didn’t break for awhile. His no-hitter waspart of a stretch of 41 scoreless innings, tied for the fifth-longest scoreless streak by a pitcher in the expansion era(since 1961), and one of only eight scoreless streaks of 40innings or longer since 1947.

During the streak, Kershaw struck out 50, allowed just 17hits and walked only five. There were 19 at-bats with a run-

ner in scoring position. None of those at-bats ended witha ball being hit out of the infield. Only three baserunnerseven made it as far as third base during those 41 innings—and two of them needed the help of a Dodgers error toadvance that far.

“I don’t really care about an innings streak or whatever,”Kershaw said, shrugging off the achievement. “We’re notsupposed to give up runs. That’s our job.”

Wins—for the team, not himself—are the only thing heuses to measure success, Kershaw often said. By that mea-sure, he became the closest thing to a sure thing thatMajor League Baseball had in 2014.

From the start of June through the end of the season,the Dodgers won 20 of the 21 games started by Kershaw.That included a stretch of 13 consecutive wins from thestart of June (when the Dodgers were eight games out inthe National League West) into mid-August (when theDodgers were in first place, five games up on the SanFrancisco Giants).


“He’s very talented and you’ve got to give himcredit for continuing to get better with whathe’s got. He has the will and determination tonot stop right at where he’s at. I think that’s what separates him.”—KIRK GIBSON

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During those 21 starts, Kershaw went at least eight innings 15times, in effect becoming his own setup man on a team thathad issues with that role all year. He allowed one run or none atall 14 times.

For the season, the Dodgers were 23-4 in Kershaw starts (an.852 winning percentage), but a more pedestrian 71-64 (a .526winning percentage) when anyone else got the starting nod.

Numbers like that had fans, analysts and players alike debat-ing the suitability of a pitcher—one who missed five weekswith an injury, no less—being considered a frontrunner for theMost Valuable Player Award.

“The guy’s the best in the game,” Giants manager BruceBochy said. “Look at his numbers. I don’t know if there’s a moredeserving MVP. I mean, forget Cy Young. These are stupidnumbers he’s put up.”

“With the roll that he’s on, you’d have a hard time not draft-ing him first in your fantasy league, wouldn’t you?” Gibsonjoked.

Mattingly is not predisposed to look kindly on the issue ofpitchers winning MVPs over everyday players. After winningthe American League MVP Award in 1985, Mattingly had aneven better season in 1986. He posted career highs in hits (238),batting average (.352), on-base percentage (.394) and sluggingpercentage (.573), with 53 doubles and 31 home runs while play-ing all 162 games for the New York Yankees.

But in ’86, Mattingly finished second to Boston Red Sox aceRoger Clemens, who swept the Cy Young and MVP awards aftergoing 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 33 starts.

Twenty-eight years later, the slight still carries some sting forMattingly. But he said his viewpoint has changed.

“I didn’t like it at the time,” Mattingly admitted. “But as amanager, you just see the value totally differently. You see thedifference a starting pitcher makes over the course of a seasonand the value he can provide.

“You can’t just consider a guy for MVP because he’s the Cy

Kershaw has led all major league pitchers in ERA in each of the last four seasons, a span in which he has worked 895.1 innings and posted a 2.11 ERA.


PITCHER OF THE YEAR

CLAYTON KERSHAW, DodgersDuring the course of the 2014 season, Kershaw was the best start-ing pitcher in the game, leading the majors with 21 wins,a 1.77 ERA and six complete games to go with his 239strikeouts in 198.1 innings. He missed a handful of startsat the beginning of the year with a back ailment, but afterhe recovered he was the most consistent and dominatingpitcher in the game. At age 26, he is already a three-timeCy Young Award recipient, two-time 20-game winner,four-time ERA champion, and has fanned 200 or more batters ineach of his last five seasons.

JOHNNY CUETO, RedsNot only did he bounce back from an injury-plagued 2013 cam-paign in which he started 11 games and pitched only 60 innings,Cueto performed at a remarkable level for a Cincinnaticlub that finished 10 games below .500. The 28-year-oldright-hander went 20-9 with a 2.25 ERA and 242 strike-outs in 243.2 innings. He placed second in the N.L. in vic-tories and ERA while topping the league in strikeouts,innings pitched and games started (34). In his 34 starts,he worked seven or more innings in 23 and didn’t allowmore than three earned runs in any of those contests. If it wasn’tfor Kershaw’s performance, Cueto would have been the N.L. CyYoung winner.

ADAM WAINWRIGHT, CardinalsWainwright again was the anchor of the St. Louis pitching staff,leading the Cardinals to a N.L. Central title and an appear-ance in the NLCS for the fourth consecutive season. Theveteran right-hander equaled or bettered his high marksin wins (20), ERA (2.38), complete games (5), shutouts(3) and WHIP (1.031). Wainwright pitched seven or moreinnings in 24 of his 32 starts, and allowed three or fewerearned runs in 23 of those 24 outings. Wainwright is atrue “stopper,” having started 22 games following a Cardinalsdefeat, and St. Louis went 18-4 in those starts.

COREY KLUBER, IndiansAmong American League starters in 2014, Kluber ranked first inwins (18) and starts (34), third in ERA (2.44) and innings pitched(235.2), and second in strikeouts (269). His consistencyprovided Cleveland with a dependable starter who helpedkeep the Indians in contention en route to an 85-77record and a third-place finish in the A.L. Central. Hepitched into the seventh inning 22 times, allowing threeor fewer earned runs in each of those starts while fanning10 or more batters 11 times. He struck out five batters forevery walk he issued, finishing the year with only 51 walks and animpressive 1.095 WHIP.

MADISON BUMGARNER, GiantsBumgarner’s regular-season accomplishments were magnified byhis dominance in the postseason, when he won four offive decisions and posted a 2-0 record and 0.43 ERA in21 innings of World Series play. During the season,Bumgarner stepped in as San Francisco’s ace, finishingwith an 18-10 record, 2.98 ERA, four complete games,two shutouts and 219 strikeouts in 217.1 innings. TheGiants won 20 of his 33 regular-season starts and six ofthe seven games he appeared in during the postseason. He was anAll-Star, Silver Slugger winner, NLCS Most Valuable Player andWorld Series MVP.

TOP PITCHERS OF THE YEAR

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FELIX HERNANDEZ, MarinersHernandez again was a dominating force on the mound, win-

ning the A.L. ERA title with a 2.14 mark. He also pacedthe junior circuit with a 0.915 WHIP and 34 starts, andfinished the year at 15-6 with 248 strikeouts in 236innings. The durable right-hander worked seven or moreinnings in 24 games—including a string of 16 in a row—and allowed three or fewer earned runs in 23 of them. Hefanned 202 more batters than he walked (248/46), and in

the 13 games he received a no decision, he recorded a 1.95ERA over 83 innings.

CHRIS SALE, White SoxDespite missing a handful of starts due to minor ailments, Salewas one of the most dominating starters in the major leagues in

2014, posting a 12-4 record, 2.17 ERA and 208 strikeoutsin 174 innings. Like Felix Hernandez in Seattle, Sale wasoften given little offensive support in games he could haveearned a victory. In his 12 wins, he worked 87.1 inningsand posted a 1.75 ERA; in his 13 no-decisions, Sale com-pleted 63.2 innings for a 1.87 ERA. Sale is one of the bestpitchers in the game, and with a little more luck and run

support, he could become a 20-game winner.

JON LESTER, Red Sox/A’sLester has proven to be a consistent winner during his seven full

seasons in the major leagues, winning 15 or more gamesin six of those campaigns. In 2014, he split the yearbetween Boston and Oakland, compiling a 16-11 record in32 starts with career-best marks in ERA (2.46) andinnings pitched (219.2) while registering 220 strikeouts—eighth most in the majors. He worked seven or moreinnings in 19 of his 32 starting assignments, and surren-

dered three or fewer earned runs in 18 of them. His clubs won 20of the games he appeared in.

DOUG FISTER, NationalsWashington’s acquisition of Fister was one of the top moves theclub made. It not only restored a solid starting rotation, butaided the Nationals in their bid to play October baseball. Fister

turned out to be one of the most consistent starters inthe National League and led the Nationals with 16 victo-ries. His 16-6 mark with a 2.41 ERA, despite missing thefirst month of the season, was impressive. He walkedonly 24 batters in 164 innings of work, and Washingtonwon 18 of his 25 starts. Although the Giants eliminatedWashington in the NLDS in four games, Fister was on the

mound in the Nationals’ only win. He worked seven shutoutinnings in Game 3.

ZACK GREINKE, DodgersSince coming to the Dodgers in 2013, Greinke has compiled a

32-12 mark, including a career-best 17 victories last sea-son. His 17-8 record helped Los Angeles to the N.L. Westtitle, and teaming with Clayton Kershaw, he was the rightside of the game’s best lefty-righty starting combination.In Greinke’s 32 starts, he worked 202.1 innings, fanned207 batters, walked 43 and posted a 2.71 ERA. He pitchedinto the sixth inning in 26 of his 32 starts and allowed

three or fewer earned runs in 27 of them. In 2014, he was an All-Star and captured his first Gold Glove Award.

TOP PITCHERS OF THE YEAR

Young. It has to be a special year. Every year with Clayton,though, is special. This one just seems to be extra special. Ithink the fact that he missed the first six weeks and the domi-nance of the year is what’s amazing.”

It was special, indeed. Only three other pitchers—an eventual Hall of Fame trio of

Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez—have fin-ished first or second in Cy Young voting for four consecutiveseasons.

Only three other pitchers in the live-ball era have won con-secutive ERA titles with ERAs lower than 2.00—Maddux (1994-95), Sandy Koufax (1963-64) and Hal Newhouser (1945-46).Before Kershaw did it last year, only Maddux managed to postERAs lower than 1.86 in consecutive years. And no pitchersince Eddie Cicotte in 1916 and 1917 managed to have an ERAof 1.86 one year and then lower it the next.

If you removed his 41-inning scoreless streak in its entirety,Kershaw still would have led the majors in ERA at 2.23.

Kershaw stroked more triples at Dodger Stadium (one) thanhe allowed in 2014. He faced 340 batters on the road all yearand allowed just two home runs. He gave up just 23 hits withrunners in scoring position.

The lefty allowed two runs or fewer in 19 of his 27 starts,three runs or fewer in 26 of 27—all save that May 17 aberrationin Arizona. That was 96.3 percent of his starts, the highest per-centage in major league history.

In 2014, Kershaw supplemented an already impressiveresume. He lowered his career ERA to 2.48, the lowest for anystarting pitcher who has thrown at least 1,000 innings since1920, the end of the dead-ball era.

“Best pitcher alive, man,” Dodgers outfielder Matt Kempsaid. “That’s all you can really say. He’s the best.” BD


LONGEST SCORELESSINNINGS STREAKIn 2014, Clayton Kershaw became the 20th pitcher since 1900 to have a consecutive scoreless inning streak of 40 or more innings. The only two pitchers to have two skeins of 40 ormore innings are Walter Johnson and Luis Tiant.

AMERICAN LEAGUEPITCHER, TEAM YEAR STREAK INNINGSWalter Johnson, Senators 1913 April 10 – May 14 55.2Jack Coombs, A’s 1910 Sept. 5 – Sept. 25 53.0Cy Young, Red Sox 1904 April 25 – May 17 45.0Doc White, White Sox 1904 Sept. 12 – Sept. 30 45.0Rube Waddell, A’s 1905 Aug. 22 – Sept. 5 43.2Rube Foster, Red Sox 1914 May 1 – May 26 42.0Ted Lyons, White Sox 1926 Aug. 9 – Aug. 26 41.0Luis Tiant, Indians 1968 April 28 – May 17 41.0Walter Johnson, Senators 1918 May 7 – May 26 40.0Luis Tiant, Red Sox 1972 Aug. 19 – Sept. 8 40.0

NATIONAL LEAGUEPITCHER, TEAM YEAR STREAK INNINGSOrel Hershiser, Dodgers 1988 Aug. 30 – Sept. 28 59.0Don Drysdale, Dodgers 1968 May 14 – June 8 58.0Bob Gibson, Cardinals 1968 June 2 – June 26 47.0Carl Hubbell, Giants 1933 July 13 – Aug. 1 45.1Sal Maglie, Giants 1950 Aug. 16 – Sept. 13 45.0Ed Reulbach, Cubs 1908 Sept. 17 – Oct. 3 44.0Bradon Webb, D’backs 2007 July 20 - Aug. 17 42.0Jack Chesbro, Pirates 1902 June 26 – July 16 41.0Grover Alexander, Phillies 1911 Sept. 7 – Sept. 24 41.0Art Nehf, Braves 1917 Sept. 13 – Oct. 4 41.0Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers 2014 June 13 – July 10 41.0Gaylord Perry, Giants 1967 Aug. 28 – Sept. 10 40.0

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JOHNNYCUETO

MAKES BIG COMEBACK SPLASH WITH REDS

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

R eds right-hander Johnny Cueto began the 2014season certain of one thing. “I need to have 30starts, for sure,” Cueto said.

Cueto did much more than that. He made 34 startsand led the National League in innings pitched with acareer-high 243.2. And they were quality innings.Cueto went 20-9 with 2.25 ERA and tied for the N.L.lead with 242 strikeouts. He finished second to ClaytonKershaw in the N.L. Cy Young voting.

All in all, it was very good season for a pitcher whocame into the 2014 season with a lot of questionmarks about his health. Cueto, Baseball Digest’sComeback Player of the Year, was limited to 11starts in 2013 by three separate trips to the dis-abled list—all the result of a lat strain.

The Dominican native went 19-9 with a 2.78ERA in 2012 and finished fourth in the Cy Young

vote. His postseason was limited to two-thirdsof an inning by an oblique injury. He alsomissed the first five weeks in 2011 with abiceps strain.

The 28-year-old Cueto has been one of thebest pitchers in baseball since the start of the

2011 season. He’s 53-25 with a 2.48 ERA duringthat span—only Kershaw posted a better ERA

at 2.11 over the last four years. But missing 30starts in that stretch has kept him from being

considered a true ace.A year ago, Cueto went into the offseason set on rec-

tifying that. At 5-foot-11, 212 pounds, Cueto will neverwin a bodybuilding contest. But he is a tireless worker.He runs as much as anyone on the Reds staff, and he

After missing most of 2013 with a lat strain in his pitching arm, Cincinnati right-hander put up

career-high marks with 20 wins, 242 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA


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By JOHN FAY

upped his regimen last offseason.“I did a lot of training,” he said during spring training.

“Now I can come back ready. I know I can do it, but I don’tknow what’s going to happen.”

Cueto also made a slight adjustment to his delivery. Hehad been using a Luis Tiant-type of rotation to add decep-tion.

“When this over-rotation started back in 2011, it wasvery compact: turn and tuck and then come out,” Redsmanager Bryan Price said. “There are times when he canget away from that. There are times when he can get sodramatic in the turn, that it creates a more difficult time torepeat the mechanics. He's coming off a lat strain and ahistory of some shoulder fatigue and things of that nature.

We’re trying to make it easier for him to repeat the deliv-ery.”

Cueto’s stuff is obviously top shelf. He throws six differ-ent pitches—a two-seam fastball and four-seam fastball, acutter, changeup, curveball and slider. He can throw allfor strikes. He’s also fearless about challenging hitters.

“What a competitor,” Price said. “He just battles.”Brayan Pena, who caught the majority of Cueto’s starts

during the 2014 season, saw what a competitor Cueto wasfrom the start.

“His mindset is so strong. It’s fun to be behind homeplate when he’s pitching,” Pena said. “Hopefully, our posi-tion players, they say the same thing. Every time he goesout there, he gives you everything. He’s one of the best inthe game right now.”

Cueto’s season ended with perhaps his finest outing of

the year. He went eight innings and allowed one run to thePittsburgh Pirates on the last day of the season. He wasallowed to hit for himself with a runner on second and twoouts in the eighth. He drove in the go-ahead run.

The move was not exactly sound baseball strategy. “If anybody earned that opportunity, it was Johnny,”

Price said after the game. “To me, that’s more importantthan everything today. We put Johnny Cueto above every-thing else, including our ballclub, including the playoffrace. I felt like he earned it.”

Cueto became the first Red to win 20 games since DannyJackson won 23 in 1988. Getting to 20 was a big deal—inlight of his struggles to stay healthy in 2013.

“It was huge. It couldn’t have been better,” Price said.

“It’s not easy to come by. Not only is that a dominatingyear as far as ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, batting averageagainst—all the great statistics pitchers look to evaluate—he lost a lot of those 1-0, 2-1 games. So not to get to 20would have been painful.”

Cueto is the first pitcher the Reds have signed anddeveloped to become their ace since fellow DominicanMario Soto in the 1980s. Cueto grew up in San Pedro deMacoris, the city that is known for producing shortstops.He credits his mother, Maria Christina, for getting himstarted on the path to the majors.

“I never had to beg for equipment,” Cueto said. “Some ofmy friends and the other kids in the barrio, they had to beg(the baseball stars who came back home from the States)for things, but that was never me. My mom wouldn’t letme beg. She’d buy it for me.”


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“His mindset is so strong. It’s fun to bebehind home plate when he’s pitching.

Hopefully, our position players, they saythe same thing. Every time he goes outthere, he gives you everything. He’s one

of the best in the game right now.”—BRYAN PENA

To honor his mother, Cueto has her name, Christina, tat-tooed on his left arm. But the young man was no surefireprospect.

Cueto was one of the first players signed under the regime ofgeneral manager Dan O’Brien, whose staff searched for playersto fill the organization’s new Dominican facility. Former Redssuper scout Johnny Almaraz went to see Cueto on his way tothe airport as a favor to a friend. He signed the undersizedpitcher for $35,000. It’s arguably the best investment the Redshave made in recent history.

Although never rated higher than the 34th-best prospect inbaseball, Cueto made the team out of spring training in 2008after four solid years in the minors. He was rushed—he onlymade four starts above Class-A before his big league debut—because the franchise was so pitching-poor. Cueto went 9-14with a 4.81 ERA that year. He was mostly a power pitcher whowas prone to beating himself.

“He’s become a pitcher,” said Soto, who now heads the Reds’operation in the Dominican and has worked with Cueto sincehe signed. “These days, he’s not a guy who goes out and throws94, 95 the whole game. But when he needs to reach back, he’sgot that velocity. If you can pitch 92, 93, you’re in a pretty goodgroove right there. Then when you need it 95 and 96 and youget it.

“That’s what he’s doing right now. He’s enjoying it. Helearned a lot. He now can say, ‘I threw a fastball inside and thenI came back with a changeup.’ He’s enjoying what he’s doingand the results are there.”

With 242 strikeouts in 2014, right-hander Johnny Cueto became the seventh Cincinnati Reds pitcher since 1900 to lead the National League in strikeouts.


COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

JOHNNY CUETO, RedsBaseball Digest’s Comeback Player of the Year spent three lengthystints on the disabled list in 2013, battling shoulder andright lat muscle injuries. The lat ailment began in April,and Cueto made just 11 starts after going 19-9 with a2.78 ERA in 2012. That had been his career year, but the28-year-old right-hander topped that performance in2014. Fully healthy, Cueto led the National League instarts (34) and innings (243.2) en route to a 20-9 record,a 2.25 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He tied Washington’s StephenStrasburg for the N.L. lead with 242 strikeouts. Those numbers,including his first 20-win season, were career bests.

CHRIS YOUNG, MarinersThe 6-foot-10 right-hander was an All-Star for the Padres in 2007,but in the next two years, a string of injuries and surgical proce-dures began to sidetrack a promising career. His throw-ing shoulder has been problematic for years, but afterbeing limited to nine minor league starts in 2013, Youngjoined the Seattle rotation as the fifth starter last spring.He blanked Oakland for six innings in his first start andwent on to post double-digit wins for the first time since2006. The 35-year-old Young finished 12-9 with a 3.65ERA in 29 starts and a relief outing for the rejuvenated Mariners.

CASEY MCGEHEE, MarlinsMcGehee was a Rookie of the Year candidate in 2009, when he bat-ted .301 with 16 homers and 66 RBI in 116 games for the Brewers.The following season he delivered 38 doubles, 23 homers and 104 RBI, but his production quickly dropped off and by 2013 heheaded to Japan to play for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.McGehee took advantage of an opportunity with the Marlins lastseason, taking over at third base and batting .287 with 76 RBI. The32-year-old veteran, who drew a career-high 67 walks in 2014,reached base safely in 31 consecutive games near midseason.

TOP COMEBACK PLAYERS OF 2014

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MELKY CABRERA, Blue JaysIn the middle of a career year with the Giants in 2012, Cabrera

was suspended 50 games for a positive PED test. Hemissed out on San Francisco’s run to the World Series titlebefore signing with Toronto for 2013, when he was both-ered nearly all season by a left knee injury and later by abenign tumor in his back, which was surgically removedat the end of the season. Cabrera’s power dropped offmarkedly, most likely because of his injuries, but he

bounced back to hit .301 with 35 doubles, 16 homers and 73 RBIlast summer. A broken pinkie finger in early September ended animpressive rebound season.

STARLIN CASTRO, CubsAs a 20-year-old rookie in 2010, Castro enjoyed the first of threesolid offensive seasons. A cornerstone of the Cubs’ rebuilding

plan, the young shortstop batted .297, slugged .425 andaveraged 32 doubles, nine triples, nine homers, 62 RBIand 19 steals a year over those three seasons. But in a dif-ficult 2013 campaign, he made less contact, struck outmore frequently, batted just .245 and slugged .347.Despite a lingering hamstring injury in Arizona last spring,Castro got off to a fast start and finished at .292 with acareer-high .438 slugging percentage, 33 doubles, 14

homers and 65 RBI. His season ended with a high ankle sprain inearly September.

MATT KEMP, DodgersKemp had a career year in 2011, when he batted .324, posted a.986 OPS and led the National League in runs (115), homers(39), RBI (126) and total bases (353). The numbers were nearlyas impressive in 2012, but the year marked the first of two injury-plagued seasons that led to offseason surgery. After a down2013, when he recorded a career-low .723 OPS and picked upjust 21 extra-base hits in 73 games, the 30-year-old Kemp cameto camp last spring recovering from procedures to repair shoul-der and ankle injuries. He stayed healthy enough to appear in 150games, batting .287 and slugging .506, with 38 doubles, 25homers and 89 RBI.

TOP COMEBACK PLAYERS OF 2014

CINCINNATI REDS 20-GAME WINNERSLast season Johnny Cueto became the 24thpitcher in Cincinnati Reds history, since 1900,to win 20 or more games in a season. He’s onlythe eighth to do it with an ERA lower than 2.30.

YEAR PITCHER T W-L ERA1901 Noodles Hahn L 22-19 2.711902 Noodles Hahn L 23-12 1.771903 Noodles Hahn L 22-12 2.521904 Jack Harper R 23- 9 2.301905 Bob Ewing R 20-11 2.511906 Jake Weimer R 20-14 2.221910 George Suggs R 20-12 2.401917 Fred Toney R 24-16 2.20

Pete Schneider R 20-19 2.101919 Slim Sallee L 21- 7 2.061922 Eppa Rixey L 25-13 3.531923 Dolf Luque R 27- 8 1.93

Eppa Rixey L 20-15 2.80Pete Donohue R 21-15 3.38

1924 Carl Mays R 20- 9 3.151925 Pete Donohue R 21-14 3.08

Eppa Rixey L 21-11 2.881926 Pete Donohue R 20-14 3.371935 Paul Derringer R 22-13 3.511938 Paul Derringer R 21-14 2.931939 Bucky Walters R 27-11 2.29

Paul Derringer R 25- 7 2.931940 Bucky Walters R 22-10 2.48

Paul Derringer R 20-12 3.061943 Elmer Riddle R 21-11 2.631944 Bucky Walters R 23- 8 2.401947 Ewell Blackwell R 22- 8 2.471961 Joey Jay R 21-10 3.531962 Bob Purkey R 23- 5 2.81

Joey Jay R 21-14 3.761963 Jim Maloney R 23- 7 2.771965 Sammy Ellis R 22-10 3.79

Jim Maloney R 20- 9 2.541970 Jim Merritt L 20-12 4.081985 Tom Browning L 20- 9 3.551988 Danny Jackson L 23- 8 2.732014 Johnny Cueto R 20- 9 2.25

Cueto put up career numbers in almost every pitching cate-gory in 2014, and a few stand out. One was his 0.96 WHIP, as heallowed only 6.2 hits per nine innings pitched. He also fanned177 more batters than he walked (242 to 65), and opposing bat-ters hit only .194 against him last season—the lowest mark inthe majors.

A veteran of seven seasons, Cueto is in the last year of a four-year, $27-million contract the Reds signed him to in January2011. The club picked up his $10 million for 2015. He will be dif-ficult to re-sign if he puts up another year like he did in 2014.

“As much as I think we’d like to be able to keep every singleguy and pay them what they deserve, it’s impossible to do ithere,” Price said. “That being said, I’m sure every effort will bemade. Sometimes the players have to cooperate too, and that’shard to ask them, to be in the prime of their career and make itworkable for both sides.”

Cueto would like to stay with the Reds.“I feel good here. I like it here,” Cueto said. “I like the fans. I

like the stadium. Even though the stadium is small, I like thisstadium. I pitch good here. I want to stay here, yes.” BD

MATTKEMP

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GREGHOLLAND

KANSAS CITY’S SHUT DOWN MAN

CLOSER OF THE YEAR

A s the fallout from the mostglorious moment in KansasCity Royals history since

1985 devolved around him, closerGreg Holland took a second toappreciate what he and his team-

mates had just accomplished.By securing the final out of Game 4

of the American League ChampionshipSeries against the Baltimore Orioles on

Oct. 15, Holland sent his team to the World Series, thecrescendo in a perpetually eventful month for thereliever.

“It’s what you dream of as a kid—punch your ticketto the World Series,” said Holland, a grin peakingthrough his bushy playoff beard as the celebrationbegan on that early Wednesday evening. “Especiallyfor your home crowd. These fans have been waiting along time and they deserved it.”

The 27th out came on a groundball to third basemanMike Moustakas. Roughly 30 minutes after, the selloutcrowd gathered at Kauffman Stadium still throbbed,stuck in a state of euphoria. On the field, Hollandslipped on an ALCS championship t-shirt and cradledhis newborn son. Even Nash Gregory Holland became

part of the Royals’ hectic postseason run.It began Sept. 30 with Kansas City’s first post-season appearance since 1985. Holland pitched

one scoreless inning in the Royals’ 9-8, extra-inning win over the Oakland Athletics. BeforeGame 1 of the A.L. Division Series against the

Angels, Holland boarded a flight for North

Royals late-inning specialistracked up 46 saves in 48 opportunities with a 1.44 ERA

and helped guide his club to the American League pennant

28 January/February 2015Kansas City Royals

By JACKSON ALEXANDER

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Carolina to witness his wife Lacey give birth to their firstchild. He made it back just in time to close out a 3-2 victo-ry in Los Angeles.

Prior to the World Series, Holland won the 2014 MarianoRivera Award, given to the A.L.’s most outstanding reliefpitcher. His closing act was notching the save that ensuredthe franchise’s third World Series appearance.

So what moment reigns supreme for Holland? Pitchingin Kansas City’s first postseason game in nearly threedecades, one of the most exciting playoff games in recentmemory? The birth of Nash? Or embracing catcherSalvador Perez after his pennant-clinching save?

“I’ve got to put the birth of my first child at the top of thelist,” said Holland at the ceremony for his Mariano RiveraAward.

Holland and the Royals would eventually drop the FallClassic in seven games to the San Francisco Giants, butthis did nothing to diminish the remarkable year Kansas

City’s impregnable closer had.It would not be hyperbole to declare Holland the best

current closer in the A.L. He finished second in the leaguewith 46 regular-season saves in 2014, trailing onlyMariners closer Fernando Rodney (48). But Hollandunquestionably had a better season than Rodney.

Among qualified closers, Holland converted a majorleague-best 95.8 percent of his save opportunities (Rodneyconverted 94.1 percent). He struck out 90 batters in 62.1innings, while Rodney fanned 76 in 66.1 innings. AndHolland’s 1.44 ERA provided the largest disparity betweenhimself and Rodney (2.85).

Holland only improved in the postseason. Kansas Cityleaned on him for 11 innings over three series, plus theWild Card Game. He recorded seven saves, struck out 15batters and allowed just one run.

“I think it’s something that maybe in December orsomething I’ll be able to look back on and take pride inbeing part of a World Series team and being honored for

on-the-field success,” Holland said.The right-hander’s domination during the last four sea-

sons (256.1 innings, 358 strikeouts, 1.86 ERA) makes him acontender for the honor of baseball’s best closer. TheBraves’ Craig Kimbrel might have a vice grip on that dis-tinction, but if there’s any separation between the imper-vious closers, it’s minimal.

In fact, over the last two seasons, Holland edges Kimbrelin two of the more important stats for a closer: save percent-age and ERA. Holland converted 94.9 percent (93-of-98) ofhis save opportunities between 2013 and 2014, while Kimbrelsettled at 92.4 percent (97 of 105). During that span, Hollandsported a 1.32 ERA, compared to Kimbrel’s 1.40 figure.

Kimbrel won the Trevor Hoffman Award, which recog-nizes the National League’s best reliever. When the twoclosers were presented with their respective awards forthe 2014 season, they took turns awkwardly doling outplaudits to one another. What came off as most genuine

was Kimbrel’s desire to be in Holland’s position—just afew hours away from taking the field for Game 2 of theWorld Series in Kansas City.

“I’m going to say I’m a little jealous that he still gets towear his uniform right now,” Kimbrel said.

There’s nothing overly intimidating about Holland onthe mound. He doesn’t theatrically stare daggers at hitterslike Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon. Standing at 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds, Holland does not possess the length ofan Aroldis Chapman or the chiseled frame of a Kimbrel.His caveman-like beard is really the only daunting thingabout him.

When the Marion, N.C. native speaks, he’s succinct butpolite, similar to fellow North Carolinian MadisonBumgarner, the man responsible for denying Kansas Citythe World Series it seemed destined to win.

While Holland doesn’t follow the closer archetype interms of mound presence, his menacing pitch repertoiremore than makes up for it. Holland throws a fastball that


“He’s got great stuff. He can get his fastball up to 97 miles an hour and his slider and split are really tough to pick up and see.” —NED YOST

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ranges from 95 to 97 miles per hour, and couples it with a dev-astating slider that he threw 43.4 percent of the time in 2014,according to BrooksBaseball.com.

When he delivers a pitch, he veers off the mound to his left,finishing his delivery in the direction of the first-base line. Thisdeception, combined with the mid-to-upper 90s fastball and aparabolic slider, makes him nearly unhittable. Holland has notallowed a home run with runners on base since June 23, 2012.That spans 183 regular-season and postseason innings.

“He’s got great stuff,” said Royals manager Ned Yost in anOctober press conference. “He can get his fastball up to 97miles an hour and his slider and split are really tough to pick upand see.”

Yost recognizes the importance of his ninth-inning protec-torate, but in 2014 he benefitted from the emergence of twoother relievers, as well. Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and

Holland formed their own version of the 1990 Nasty Boys—Reds relievers Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers.

The emergence of Herrera in the seventh inning and Davis inthe eighth shortened the game for Yost.

“There were years that our whole focus was to get to theeighth inning and let them get the ball to Greg Holland,” Yostsaid. “And this year it’s been, ‘Okay, let’s get through six and getthe ball to Greg Holland.’”

The triad combined to toss 204.1 innings with 258 strikeoutsand an eye-popping 1.28 ERA during the regular season. In theplayoffs, the three threw 40.1 innings with 51 strikeouts and aneven-better 1.12 ERA.

The Royals finished 65-4 when entering the seventh inningin the lead and 72-1 with the advantage entering the eighthinning last season. But nothing was surer than a lead to beginHolland’s inning. Kansas City went 79-1 in the regular seasonwhen ahead at the start of the ninth.

Holland praised Herrera and Davis for their success in 2014,while simultaneously crediting them for his own success.

“Kelvin and Wade have been incredible. I can’t say unbeliev-

Since his first full season in 2011, Holland has posted a 15-9 won-lost record, with 113 saves, 1.86 ERA and 358 strikeouts in 256.1 innings pitched.


CLOSER OF THE YEAR

GREG HOLLAND, RoyalsThe hard-throwing right-hander put together his second consecu-tive season with 45 or more saves and an ERA below 1.50.With 46 saves, a 1.44 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 62.1innings, Holland’s 2014 performance helped guide KansasCity to its first American League pennant in 29 years.Among the 17 relievers with 30 or more saves in themajors last season, Holland’s .958 save percentage wasthe highest; he blew only two of his 48 opportunities. Hefanned at least one batter in 53 of his 65 appearances andyielded only 20 walks and 37 hits—29 singles, five doubles andthree home runs. In 60 of his appearances, he pitched only oneinning and retired the side in order in 29 of them. He demonstrat-ed his dominance on the national stage during the postseason,appearing in 11 games and recording seven saves with a 0.82 ERA.

CRAIG KIMBREL, BravesKimbrel led the National League in saves for the fourth consecu-tive season, becoming the first closer to accomplish the feat in hisfirst four full years in the majors. Despite the demise ofthe Braves, who fell short of qualifying for the postsea-son, Kimbrel was a bright spot on the club, recording 47saves, a 1.61 ERA, 95 strikeouts in 61.2 innings, and a0.908 WHIP. He had a .922 save percentage, failing inonly three of his 51 opportunities. During his career,Kimbrel has saved 185 games in 203 opportunities (.911pct.). He has a 15-10 record, 1.43 ERA and 476 strikeouts in 289innings.

HUSTON STREET, Padres/AngelsA 10-year veteran, Street had a career year in 2014, splitting theseason between the Padres (24 saves) and Angels (17saves). At season’s end, he was 2-2 with 41 saves, a 1.37ERA and 0.944 WHIP. His ERA was never higher than1.42 during the entire season, as he allowed only nineearned runs in his 59.1 innings of work. He became thefourth closer to record 40 or more saves in a seasonwhile splitting the year between two teams, joining JeffShaw (Reds, Dodgers) in 1998, Lee Smith (Cardinals,Yankees) in 1993, and Matt Capps (Nationals, Twins) in 2010.

AROLDIS CHAPMAN, RedsDespite posting an 0-3 won-lost record, Chapman had an out-standing season after overcoming being hit in the face by a linedrive during spring training. After he returned to majorleague action on May 11, the hard-throwing left-handersaved 36 of 38 opportunities for the second-highest savepercentage (.947) among closers with 30 or more saves.In addition to 36 saves, Chapman registered a 2.00 ERAand fanned 106 batters in 54 innings. He made 44appearances in which he worked only one inning andstruck out two or more batters in 33 of those games. Chapmansurrendered only 21 hits (14 singles, six doubles, one homer) and24 walks for an impressive 0.833 WHIP.

FERNANDO RODNEY, MarinersRodney’s 1-6 won-lost record is a bit deceiving, as the flamboy-ant right-handed closer posted a respectable 2.85 ERA and 48saves in 51 opportunities—good for a .942 save per-centage. In his 51 save opportunities, Rodney complet-ed 49.1 innings and surrendered 42 hits, 20 walks and15 earned runs, fanned 60 batters and recorded a 2.74ERA. Although his ERA may be a bit higher than mosttop-flight closers, Rodney’s performances are definedby his ability to close out games. Over the last threeyears, he has earned 133 saves in 146 opportunities for a .911save percentage.

TOP CLOSERS OF 2014

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ZACH BRITTON, OriolesIn first season as a reliever, the one-time starter excelled in hisrole and helped the Orioles capture their first division champi-

onship since 1997. The left-handed closing ace registered37 saves in 41 opportunities, a 3-2 record, 1.65 ERA and62 strikeouts in 76.1 innings. He appeared in 71 gamesand finished 49 while allowing only 46 hits and 23 walksfor a 0.904 WHIP. Britton’s season began in the bullpen asa setup reliever, an assignment in which he went 3-0 withseven holds before being moved to the closer role, which

he never relinquished. As a setup reliever, he pitched 19.1innings and surrendered two earned runs for a 0.93 ERA. As thecloser, his work included 57 innings with 12 earned runs for a1.89 ERA. Manager Buck Showalter commented that Britton’sperformances as a setup man and closer were invaluable to theteam’s success.

KENLEY JANSEN, DodgersIn his first season exclusively as a closer, Jansen did not disap-

point in Los Angeles. He helped the Dodgers to a divisiontitle and a postseason appearance with 44 saves, a 2.76ERA and 101 strikeouts in 65.1 innings. He continues toimprove in his late-inning reliever role, and despite somestruggles is regarded as one of the game’s top closers.Since 2012, Jansen has saved 97 games in 113 opportu-nities (.858 percentage), posted an 11-9 record with a

2.30 ERA, 0.942 WHIP and 311 strikeouts in 207 innings.

MARK MELANCON, PiratesStruggling to find success at the major league level, Melanconfound his calling with the Pirates. In his first four major leagueseasons with the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox, the right-handedreliever struggled to a 10-7 record, 21 saves, 4.07 ERA, 1.261WHIP, 13 holds and eight blown saves. Since the Pirates movedhim to the closer’s role after an injury to Jason Grilli in 2013,Melancon has flourished, compiling a 6-7 record, 49 saves, 141strikeouts in 142 innings, and a 1.65 ERA and 0.915 WHIP. In2014, his 1.90 ERA led to a career-high 33 saves and guided thePirates to a wild-card playoff berth.

able, because I’ve seen the stuff they have and the work theyput in,” said Holland after the Royals’ win in Game 2 of theWorld Series. “It’s one of those things that they make my jobeasier, because (if) we’ve got a two-run lead in the sixth, we’regoing to have a two-run lead in the ninth usually.”

It’s no secret that the Royals owed a sizable portion of theirsuccess in 2014 to these three. Now the challenge of keepingthem together emerges.

“It’d be a little more challenging to do in our market, butwe’re not in a hurry to break those guys up,” Royals generalmanager Dayton Moore said after the World Series. “We’ll justhave to wait and see how the offseason comes together.”

Holland’s future with the team is particularly murky.Owning one of the best closers in baseball is a double-edged

sword for Kansas City. For the last two seasons, the Royals havereceived fantastic work from their ninth-inning man, at a seri-ous discount. Holland made $539,500 in 2013. Last season, hepocketed $4,675,000.

That $4.675-million annual salary might seem vertiginouscompared to his paltry 2013 salary, however, 10 MLB closerslast year were paid more than Holland. Nearly all of themlagged behind performance-wise.

But the better Holland pitches, the more money he willmerit in arbitration. Eventually when he becomes a free agentin 2017, his price could be too exorbitant for the relativelysmall-market Royals. There might even come a point beforeHolland reaches free agency when Moore must decide whetherhe can afford two expensive relievers in Davis and Holland.

For now, Kansas City fans should enjoy what they have:arguably the best closer in the game; a man who pegs baseballsat speeds that defy his size; a man who counters his quiet, soft-spoken personality with an alternative metal song (“FadeAway” by Breaking Benjamin) for his entrance from theKauffman Stadium bullpen in left field.

But most importantly, a man who helped make 2014 one of thebest years for the city of Kansas City in a long, long time. BD

TOP CLOSERS OF 2014LOWEST ERA FOR CLOSERS WITH 40 SAVES

YEAR CLOSER, TEAM SVS ERA2012 Fernando Rodney, Rays 48 0.601990 Dennis Eckersley, A’s 48 0.612012 Craig Kimbrel, Braves 42 1.012003 John Smoltz, Braves 45 1.121995 Jose Mesa, Indians 46 1.132003 Eric Gagne, Dodgers 55 1.202013 Craig Kimbrel, Braves 50 1.212013 Greg Holland, Royals 47 1.212004 Armando Benitez, Marlins 47 1.292014 Huston Street, Padres/Angels 41 1.371993 John Wetteland, Expos 43 1.372005 Mariano Rivera, Yankees 43 1.382007 J.J. Putz, Mariners 40 1.382013 Joe Nathan, Rangers 43 1.392014 Greg Holland, Royals 46 1.441998 Trevor Hoffman, Padres 53 1.482000 Robb Nen, Giants 41 1.501997 Randy Myers, Orioles 45 1.511998 Robb Nen, Giants 40 1.521984 Bruce Sutter, Cardinals 45 1.541998 Michael Jackson, Indians 40 1.55

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JOSEABREU

Slugging first baseman became fourth rookie in

baseball history to belt 30 or more doubles and

home runs and drive in 100-plus runs

WHITE SOX SHINING STAR

J ose Abreu’s introduction to the White Sox cameon Oct. 29, 2013, when general manager RickHahn presented the slugger his No. 79 jersey in

front of staff members and media members alike atthe U.S. Cellular Field Conference and Learning

Center.His arrival on the Major League Baseball front

seemed to unofficially take place on April 25, inthe ninth inning of what turned out to be a 9-6White Sox victory over the Rays. Abreu, whohad cleared the fences in the third inning ofthat contest against Tampa Bay starter ChrisArcher, took an 0-1 Grant Balfour fastballdeep to right for a walkoff grand slam.

That night of heroics punctuated a 31-daystretch in which Abreu set major league rookie

records with 10 home runs, 32 RBI and 19 extra-base hits in April, while also earning American

League Player of the Month and Rookie of theMonth honors. The success that made him Baseball

Digest’s Rookie of the Year had only just begun.The 27-year-old free agent from Cuba, who signed a

six-year, $68-million deal with the White Sox, complet-ed the 2014 campaign hitting .317 with 176 hits, 35 dou-bles, 36 home runs, 107 RBI, a .383 on-base percentageand .581 slugging percentage over 145 games. His 36homers set a new rookie franchise record, topping RonKittle’s 35 in 1983.

Abreu’s slugging percentage led the majors, as hejoined Dick Allen (1974) as the only players in WhiteSox history to accomplish that feat. The rookie rankedsecond in the A.L. with a .964 OPS, and he finished inSportPics

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

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By SCOTT MERKIN • MLB.COM

the top five in the three hitting percentages, homers, RBI,extra-base hits (73) and total bases (323). He became thefirst rookie in baseball history to rank among the top fivein his league in each Triple Crown category, and he joinedHal Trosky (1934), Ted Williams (1939) and Albert Pujols(2001) as the only rookies to record at least 30 doubles, 30homers and 100 RBI in a season.

It’s no surprise that Abreu received all 30 first-placevotes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America tounanimously claim the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award.After all, he topped all A.L. rookies in hits, doubles,homers, RBI, OBP, slugging and OPS. He finished secondonly to Minnesota rookie Danny Santana (.319) in battingaverage.

Earning Baseball Digest’s top rookie honor added toAbreu’s already crowded trophy shelf.

In addition to finishing ahead of Angels starter MattShoemaker and Yankees reliever Dellin Betances in the

BBWAA vote, becoming the first White Sox winner sinceshortstop Ozzie Guillen in 1985, the first baseman alsotook home the Louisville Silver Slugger Award at his posi-tion. He joined Jose Canseco (four times), Rafael Palmeiro(twice) and teammate Alexei Ramirez (twice, includingthis past season) as the only native Cubans to be honoredas Silver Slugger recipients. On top of that, Abreu wasgiven a Players Choice Award by his peers for his out-standing rookie season.

When Abreu won the BBWAA vote for A.L. Rookie of theYear, he joined Miami’s Jose Fernandez (2013), Oakland’sJose Canseco (1986) and Minnesota’s Tony Oliva (1964) asthe only Cuban natives to win the award.

At the Nov. 10 BBWAA press conference in Chicago,Abreu showed off the same calm, focused demeanor thatfueled this bountiful awards season. He also flashed abroad smile in response to several questions, illustratingthe pure enjoyment and pleasure he experienced as a first-time major leaguer.

“Even though it doesn’t show in my face, inside I’m real-ly, really happy,” said Abreu through translator and WhiteSox Spanish language broadcaster Hector Molina. “I wantto thank the White Sox for giving me the opportunity to behere.

“I’m very happy about winning. I dedicate it to theWhite Sox, my family and the Chicago fans. Everybody onthe coaching staff, they all treated me great and helped mea lot to get this Rookie of the Year.”

The 6-foot-3, 255-pound slugger is the latest of a groupof White Sox legends to win rookie honors. Guillen (1985),Kittle (’83), Tommie Agee (’66), Gary Peters (’63) and LuisAparicio (’56) preceded him.

Abreu clearly remembers the first game of his excep-tional rookie campaign; he doubled to right offMinnesota’s Ricky Nolasco to open the second inning at achilly U.S. Cellular Field on March 31. It was the first ofmany moments confirming Abreu’s belief that he could

succeed as a major leaguer.That belief began when Abreu played for Cuba in the

2013 World Baseball Classic. But he certainly didn’t envi-sion a debut season as great as 2014.

Abreu’s talent is immense. He’s an excellent hitter withthe ability to use all fields, someone who just happens tohave great power. He stood out as one of the game’s bestplayers, who also just happened to be a rookie.

But for a truly accurate picture of what makes Abreu go,look no further than his work ethic. This is a man, like allgreat hitters, who follows a detailed daily plan that beginswhen he gets up in the morning. This is a man who wentto White Sox hitting coach Todd Steverson during the sea-son and asked to move to the third hitting group duringbatting practice, in order to take his swings closer to gametime.

This professional approach was evident to White Soxexecutive vice president Ken Williams when he watchedAbreu’s workout in the Dominican Republic, roughly one


“What I want to do is win with theWhite Sox. I think we can do that withthe White Sox. I’m happy I’m here atthe right moment.”—JOSE ABREU

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month before the young man joined the team.“Well, he’s the only player that I’ve seen work out and then

play in a game that I wanted to give a standing ovation to,” saidWilliams, speaking after the White Sox and Abreu agreed toterms. “It was the most professional exhibition of hitting anddefensive work, the way he went about things.

“It was professional. It was focused. It was geared to not justimpress, but impress the right way. One of the things that wedid not want to entertain was a guy who was just one-dimen-sional. This guy is a hitter. It’s a low-maintenance swing thatrequires very little effort. The power comes easy, comes natu-rally. It’s just an impressive skill set.”

According to Steverson, Abreu’s ability to minimize slumpsstood out as one of his most impressive traits. Abreu hit justfive homers during August and September combined, perhapsa result of the physical demands of his first 162-game season.But his average rose as his power dropped, with Abreu hitting.374 in July, .376 in August, and .298 in September.

“He’s got a lot of self-confidence—obviously he doesn’tspeak a whole lot of English—but you can see it exude out of hisbody and through his eyes,” said Steverson. “And as you watchthrough the course of the game, taking his at-bats and when hecomes back after potentially getting out, you can see that his“want” factor is very high.

“He’s not the prototypical rookie in terms of age and experi-ence, but playing in the big leagues, which is the best stage onEarth, he proved he can do just fine.”

Just one year into his big league career, Abreu already is con-sidered a candidate to be a team leader in the White Sox club-house. He joked at his recent press conference how his goal in

Jose Abreu became the third rookie in American League history to lead the leaguein slugging percentage, joining Mark McGwire (1987) and Fred Lynn (1975).


JOSE ABREU, White SoxOther Cuban émigrés have arrived with more fanfare, but Abreuquickly established himself as a premier run producer in2014. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound slugger batted .317 anddelivered 36 homers, 107 RBI and a major league-leading.581 slugging percentage. He belted 15 homers anddrove in 42 runs in his first 44 games before hitting thedisabled list in mid-May with ankle tendinitis. If the WhiteSox worried the time off might stifle his production,Abreu relieved their concerns. The right-handed hitterwasn’t going to maintain his early home-run and RBI pace, but hebatted .342 with a .988 OPS the rest of the way.

JACOB DEGROM, MetsThe Mets lost their ace when Matt Harvey required Tommy Johnsurgery in October 2013, but deGrom took some of the sting outof Harvey’s absence by winning National League Rookieof the Year honors. The 26-year-old right-hander pro-jected to fit near the back end of a big league rotation,but he pitched better than that in 2014, going 9-6 witha 2.69 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 140.1 innings. Despitea disabled-list stint in mid-August for rotator cuff ten-dinitis, deGrom was exceptional after the All-Star break,posting a 6-1 record, 2.16 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 72strikeouts in 66.2 innings. He struck out 32 over his final threestarts.

MATT SHOEMAKER, AngelsAfter two mediocre Triple-A seasons, Shoemaker didn’t appear onprospect lists heading into the 2014 season. But the 28-year-old right-hander consistently worked his four-pitcharsenal in the strike zone last summer, en route to a 16-4 record and 3.04 ERA. Shoemaker didn’t blow away hit-ters with heat. Instead, he changed speeds effectively andcommanded his pitches to post a 1.07 WHIP, limitingopponents to 122 hits and 24 walks in 136 innings. Therookie was critical to the Angels as they overtook theAthletics in the A.L. West race. He went 11-2 with a 2.09 ERA fromthe start of July through the end of the season.

BILLY HAMILTON, RedsThere wasn’t any doubt Hamilton would steal a lot of bases, as heswiped 155 bags at two levels in 2012 and another 75 forTriple-A Louisville in 2013. The concern was whether hewould reach base enough to utilize his speed, but the 23-year-old rookie held his own, nearly matching his Triple-A numbers by batting .250 with a .292 OBP. Obviouslythere’s room for improvement, but thrust into the leadoffspot by Reds skipper Bryan Price, Hamilton led allNational League rookies in runs (72), hits (141), steals (56), RBI(48), doubles (25), extra-base hits (39) and total bases (200). Healso led all N.L. center fielders with 10 assists and a .994 fieldingpercentage.

DELLIN BETANCES, YankeesThe Brooklyn native emerged as a key member of New York’sbullpen. The 6-foot-8 right-hander moved from starter toreliever in 2013 and instantly became an impact pitcher.Mostly working the eighth inning for the Yankees lastsummer, Betances pitched 90 innings, fanned 135 battersand posted a 1.40 ERA. If those numbers weren’t impres-sive enough, he allowed just 46 hits and 24 walks, goodfor a miniscule 0.78 WHIP. In a season resemblingMariano Rivera’s one year as a durable and superb setup man in1996, Betances worked more than one inning in half of his 70appearances. He pitched two or more innings 14 times, andallowed runs in only three of those outings.

TOP ROOKIES OF 2014

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ROOKIE OF THE YEAR


DANNY SANTANA, TwinsA promising defensive shortstop, Santana had played only 25minor league games in center field when he was recalled to take

over the position for the Twins. Not only did the 24-year-old switch-hitter adequately handle outfield duties, he alsobatted .319, scored 70 runs and slugged .472 in 101games. His average was the highest among all rookie reg-ulars, though he may not be a perennial .300 hitter. Headded muscle and gap power in recent seasons, however,and he delivered 27 doubles, seven triples and seven

home runs with Minnesota. Previously he had been blocked atshort, but now the Twins have the option to move him to his nat-ural position.

MASAHIRO TANAKA, YankeesLast winter the Yankees signed Japan’s premier pitcher to a hefty

$155-million contract and he provided immediate divi-dends. Tanaka started 6-0 in his first eight outings, fan-ning 66 and walking only seven while posting a 2.17 ERA.The 26-year-old right-hander, arguably the AmericanLeague’s best pitcher over the first three months of theseason, was beginning to look like a stone-cold bargainwhen he suffered a partially torn ulner collateral ligament

in early July. His rookie campaign appeared to be over, butTanaka avoided surgery and returned in late September. Evenafter getting roughed up for seven runs in his final 2014 outing,he finished 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 20 starts.

YORDANO VENTURA, RoyalsThe Royals clinched their first playoff berth in 29 years on thefinal weekend of the season, with Ventura playing a key role in

securing a wild-card spot. The 23-year-old right-handerwent 4-1 in September, holding the Yankees and Clevelandscoreless in road contests while posting a 2.41 ERA in sixstarts. Ventura finished 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA in 30 startsand one relief appearance. He walked 69 batters and needsto improve his command, but even when he allowed fivefree passes to the Giants in Game 6 of the World Series,

Ventura gave up just three hits over seven innings for a 10-0 win.

KOLTEN WONG, CardinalsA year ago the Cardinals traded David Freese to the Angels andmoved Matt Carpenter to third base to make room at second for

Wong, a highly regarded all-around prospect. Wong strug-gled mightily in late April and returned to Triple-A Memphisbriefly, then tried to play through a shoulder injury in Junebefore going on the disabled list. The final numbers weren’timpressive (.249/.292/.388), but he showed flashes of hishitting prowess during hot stretches in May, July andAugust. The wiry 5-foot-9 Wong stroked 12 home runs dur-

ing the regular season and three more in October, including a dra-matic walkoff shot in Game 2 of the NLCS.

GEORGE SPRINGER, AstrosIn four minor league seasons, Springer struck out 335 times in287 games. With the Astros in 2014, he fanned 114 times in 345

plate appearances for an average of one strikeout in everythree trips to the plate. Still, the power prospect slugged20 homers and drove in 51 runs in 78 games before amid-July quad injury ended his season. Because goodbreaking stuff can neutralize his impressive bat speed, hemay not hit for average, but with his power it may not mat-ter. The 25-year-old Springer is an above-average outfield-

er who also draws walks, So, despite a .231 average in his Astrosdebut, he posted a .336 OBP. Add his .468 slugging percentageto that and you have a solid .804 OPS.

the next year or so is to do an entire interview in English.Asking Abreu to take a leadership role may seem unrealistic,but Steverson noted that the young man’s 10 years of profes-sional experience playing for Cienfuegos in Cuba make himthe less-than-prototypical rookie.

In 2014, Abreu also had to adjust to life in a new countrywithout a working knowledge of English, and without most ofhis family present. He sought out the Angels’ Albert Pujolsduring spring training for advice on the language barrier andbaseball itself. Pujols told him to simply focus on playing thegame to the best of his ability.

“When I hear something from somebody like that, telling methat it’s going to be OK, you get strength from it,” Abreu said.“Every day, you just get up and want to continue to work hard-er and harder. Everybody who is young and in this league, theywould love to hear advice from somebody who has accom-plished so much in baseball here.”

The 17th Cuban native to suit up for the White Sox under-stands he has room to get better. Hewon’t change his offseason workoutplan, and he will focus on correctingflaws he perceives in his swing, and workto improve his overall game.

Above anything else, Abreu wants tosee the White Sox become a winningfranchise again. That’s his primary goal,and one of the many team-first reasonswhy the organization and the White Soxfan base have taken so quickly to thisexceptional rookie.

“What I want to do is win with theWhite Sox,” Abreu said. “I think we cando that with the White Sox. I’m happyI’m here at the right moment.” BD

Scott Merkin has covered the White Soxfor the past 12 seasons for MLB.com.

TOP ROOKIES OF 2014ROOKIES WITH 30 HR AND 100 RBIJose Abreu became the 12th rookie inmajor league history to hit 30 homers anddrive in 100 or more runs.

AMERICAN LEAGUEYEAR ROOKIE, TEAM HR RBI1934 Hal Trosky, Indians 35 1421937 Rudy York, Tigers 35 1031939 Ted Williams, Red Sox 31 1451950 Walt Dropo, Red Sox 34 1441950 Al Rosen, Indians 37 1161983 Ron Kittle, White Sox 35 1001986 Jose Canseco, A’s 33 1171987 Mark McGwire, A’s 49 1182014 Jose Abreu, White Sox 36 107

NATIONAL LEAGUEYEAR ROOKIE, TEAM HR RBI1930 Wally Berger, Braves 38 1191993 Mike Piazza, Dodgers 35 1122001 Albert Pujols, Cardinals 37 130

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1Among the 28 players with 3,000 or more careerhits, 10 finished their careers with a batting

average below .300. Collect one point for each ofthese 10 players you can identify.

2 Since 1931, there have been 13 players who have won consecutive league Most Valuable

Player awards. Collect 10 points if you can nameeight of these MVP winners.

3Which player led hisleague in on-base

percentage the most timeswith 12 OBP championships:Barry Bonds, Ted Williams,Babe Ruth or Rogers Hornsby?

4 Last season, Madison Bumgarner became the 10thpitcher in major league history with two career grand

slams—hitting both in 2014. Collect 10 points if you canidentify four of the other nine pitchers with two grand slams.

5 Excluding the combined no-hittertossed by four Phillies pitchers on

Sept. 1, who are the four pitchers to toss ano-hitter in 2014. Collect 10 points if youcan name two of these four pitchers.

6 In 2014, Bruce Bochy became the10th manager in major league

history to lead his club to threeWorld Series titles. Collect 10

points if you can name six of theother nine.

7Yankee Stadium I is the site ofthree of the 19 perfect games

thrown since 1920, when the live-ballera began. Collect 10 points if you can identify two of thethree pitchers to toss their perfect game at Yankee Stadium I.

8Houston’s Jose Altuve became the ninth second base-man in American League history to win a batting title.

Collect 10 points if you can identify three of the other eight.

9Five left-handers struck out 200 or more batters in 2014.Collect two points for each of these pitchers you can

identify.

10 Last season, only two major leaguers hit 10 or more doubles, triples and home

runs. Collect five points for each of these playersyou can identify. A clue: both played for the San

Francisco Giants.

BASEBALL QUICK QUIZ ANSWERS ON PAGE 62

Collect 10 points for each question answered correctly. (If you score80 or better, you’re a Hall of Famer; 70 or better, MVP; between 60and 70, All-Star; and 40 to 60, a minor leaguer.)

The Best of Baseball DigestEdited with an Introduction by John Kuenster

“This book should be in every baseball fan’s library.” —Bob Feller

“A must wherever baseball fans gather.” —Booklist

The choice of the Digest’s contentfrom the 1940s tothe present, with 116 stories and more than 80 photos, many of them rare.The book includespieces by virtually every great sports-writer of the pastcentury—writing on the greatest gamesand the greatestplayers. Here’sa baseball treat sureto please any fan!

480 pages, $39.95 hardcover– postage paid

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BRUCE BOCHY

MADISONBUMGARNER

DID YOU KNOW . . . that since 1920,when the live-ball era began, there havebeen only four pitchers who qualified for aleague ERA title to post an ERA below 2.00in consecutive seasons? Clayton Kershawbecame the fourth pitcher to do it last year,and the other three—Hal Newhouser, SandyKoufax and Greg Maddux—are in the Hallof Fame.

PITCHER TEAM YEAR ERAHal Newhouser Tigers 1945 1.81

Tigers 1946 1.94

Sandy Koufax Dodgers 1963 1.88Dodgers 1964 1.74

Greg Maddux Braves 1994 1.56Braves 1995 1.63

Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 2013 1.83Dodgers 2014 1.77

JOSE ALTUVE

TEDWILLIAMS

CLAYTONKERSHAW


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Street & Smith Annuals: 1942 H Pollet (Musial Rookie; Hornsby HOF) $65. 1943 (Kiner Rookie) $35. 1948 Joe D – taped spine (Rookies:Roy (misspelled "Ray") Campanella); Cover complete but loose $50. 1950 Joe D/T Williams (Rookie report) $90. 1951 Joe D (Mantle RookieInfo) $175. 1954 Mathews (Aaron Rookie Info) $72. 1955 Berra (Fr Robinson minor league report; "The Catch" by Mays) $75. 1958Buhl/Burdette (MVPs Mantle & Aaron) $55. 1963 $65. 1964 $60. 1965 (Perfect Games) $30. 1966 (Koufax No-Hitters) $50. 1967 $50. 1968$50. 1969 $50. 1970 $30. 1971 $30. 1973 $40. 1974 (Ruth & Aaron) $40. 1975 $28. 1976 (1,000,000th run) $25. 1977 $25. 1978 $25. 1979(Rose Streak) $25. 1980 $25. 1981 $30. 1982 $28. 1986 $22.50. 1987 $20. 1990 Special 50 Yrs (Each decade S&S Dream Team) $30.

True BB Yearbooks: 1950 T Williams (Berra; Dodgers; Cobb; Joe D) $70. 1952 Musial (1951 Giants) $70. 1956 Mantle (Musial; 1919 Sox)$45. 1957 Mantle (Musial) $135. 1960 L Sherry (Rookie Ratings) $50. 1966 Koufax, Mantle, Mays $55.

Team Yearbooks: Athletics: 1953 (taped spine) $85. Blue Jays: 1987 $15. Braves: 1946 1st yr! (Spahn Rookie) Tape remnants back cover$175. 1947 $125. 1959 NL Champs Review; Spahn Career $75. 1961 $60. 1962 $60. 1963 $55. 1964 $50. 1966 $100. 1967 $85. 1968 $60.1969 $55. 1970 $45. 1971 $35. 1972 $25. 1975 $20. 1976 $20. 1979 $20. 1982 $17. 1984 $12. 1985 $12. 1986 $12. 1988 $12. 1994 $12.Brewers: 1979 $12. 1982 $15. 1983 $12. 1984 $12. 1985 $12. 1986 $12. 1987 BB card cover $12. 1988 1st hologram cover - Molitor $15.1989 $12. 1990 $12. 1991 $10. 1992 (Fingers HOF) $10. 1994 $7. 1996 $10. Cardinals: 1974 $20. Dodgers: 1951 (Branca, Snider person-ally autographed) $200. 1952 NL Champs $135. 1959 WS Champs; 1st Year LA Review $115. 1963 Wills stealing base#104 $35. 1969 BB100-years $35. 1970 $30. 1971 $30. 1972 $28. 1973 $25. 1974 NL Champs $25. 1975 Review NL Champs ’74 Season $25. 1976 $25. 1977NL Champs; $28. 1978 NL Champs $25. 1979 $25. 1980 $25. 1981 WS Champs; Valenzuela Rookie $25. 1982 $25.1983 Hershiser "hopeful"(rookie) $25. 1984 Decade Review 74-83 $25. 1985 $25. 1988 $20. Giants: 1954 WS Champs $80. 1983 25th Anniv; Giants-Dodgers rivalry$22. 1987 Giants Yearbook/Mag combo - Special NL West Champs Edition 40 p. yearbk $18. Indians: 1949 (tape spine, cover creases) 1948WS Champs Good $125. 1951 Glossy pages some color smudging still VG $125. 1954 AL Champs (Feller inscribed & autographed) $115.1984 ’54 Season Review $20. 1989 Uniform History $20. 1992 Stadium History $20. Mets: 1967 (Seaver Rookie) $65. 1970 Review ’69 “Mira-cle Mets” $45. 1973 NL Champs, (Mays Last Season) $40. 1974 taped spine $25. 1975 Seaver cover $30. 1976 $25. 1977 $20. 1978 $20.1984 $22. 1987 Full ’86 Review- also NLCS & WS $25. 1988 Shea Events $22. 1989 ’69 WS 20th anniv $22. Orioles: 1959 $90. 1960 $75.1961 $60. 1966 Missing a few center pgs; WS Champs $18. 1968 minor page staining $30. 1969 Ruth article (Balt birth) $30. 1974 O's Players"A-Z 1954-1973" $28. 1980 AL Champs 1979 $22. 1981 First Ripken mention; 100-win O's seasons $20. 1986 20th anniv 1966 WS $22. 1993O’s All-Stars each year; Camden Yards $22. 1994 40th Anniv - Rundown each season $22. Phillies: 1959 Portion lower right corner chewed$55. 1971 Inaugural Season Veterans Stad $28. 1972 $30. 1974 $25. 1975 $25. 1976 $20. 1977 $20. 1978 $20. 1979 (Rose a Phillie) $20.1981 1980 WS Champs. $20. 1984 (Schmidt; Carlton) $20. 1985 (Schmidt; Carlton) $15. 1987 Schmidt "Eye on 500" $20. Pirates: 1959 Frontcover missing $12. 1960 WS Champs – NM condition!! $135. 1961 Recap WS Champ Season, NM $125. 1962 NM $100. 1979 WS Champs$20. Red Sox: 1976 ’75 WS review $28. 1977 $23. 1979 J Rice $18. 1980 $15. 1986 AL Champs; 1946 review $15. 1990 Sox in HOF $18.1991 $15. 1992 $15. Reds: 1967 $70. 1969 100 Yr History $60. 1970 Bench cover; "Big Red Machine"$50. 1977 Reds' MVPs 70s $45. 1989Bench HOF; Browning perfect game $18. Royals: 1979 Photo Album (issued instead of Yrbk) $15. Tigers: 1966 $60. 1967 $50. 1968 WSChamps $75. 1969 $50. 1970 All-time Tigers $40. 1971 $35. 1972 AL East Champs $35. 1973 $30. 1974 (Musial Polish Sports HOF) $25.1975 (Tigers history; Kaline retires) $25. 1976 75th Anniv $22. 1977 (1st mention/photos Trammell & Whitaker) $22. 1978 1st write-ups Tram-mell/Whitaker $20. 1979 $18. 1980 $18. 1983 $18. 1987 $15. 1989 Decade review $15. 1990 $10. 1991 $10. 1992 $10. Twins: 1962 $95.1968 $50. 1972 $35. 1980 $15. 1982 Last game Metro $20. 1985 2nd yr Puckett $20.1986 25 yrs Yrbooks $18. 1987 Enchanted Season $15.1988 World Champs Edition $20. White Sox: 1953 pg 31-32 missing $20. 1993 Sox HOF players $20. 2001 Info 1901 team $12. Yankees:1955 Big League Bks (split spine) $95. 1967 Small cut-out; other pgs loose. Fair-G $18. 1969 All Mantle's HRs $30. 1970 p 59-60 missing $12.1971 $20. 1973 $22. 1974 Munson-Murcer cover $20. 1975 25th Ann Yrbook $18. 1979 WS 1978; 60 year team history $20. 1980 AL EastChamps $15. 1982 "80 Yrs in AL" with 18 cards $20. 1983 $15. 1989 B Williams Rookie; 40 Yrs. Yrbooks $18. 1991 $15. 1992 $15.

Sporting News: 1946 Oct 30 60 Year BB History Giant Issue (Musial "Born to Play"; Special Issue with 72 page bb history supplement onuniforms, equipment, teams, parks, etc.) Covers detached from main issue; Both Supplements covers attached. Very Rare! $185. 1957 Jan 30Indians, missing pages (Berra; Snider; Feller) $7. Feb 27 ("Can't miss" Rookies; Mantle; Cards; future LA BB) $12. Apr 3 "Game needs re-serve clause" – Musial (B Robinson Rookie report; Koufax switch-hitting) $20. Apr 10 Yankees (Full p Mantle ad; T Williams; B Rob) $15.May 1 Cubs (T Williams vs Musial; Aaron; Yanks; Maris; B Rob; Drysdale) $25. May 8 (F Rob Rookie of the Year; B Rob; Berra) $15. May 29Dodgers "East-West - What of Bums?" (San Fran & BB) $15. Aug 14 Musial - To HOF (Large Polo Grounds History 1890-1957; T Williams)$30. Aug 28 Giants (SF move & team history; T Williams/Mantle comparison; Ruth) $25. Sept 11 HOF Voting (Mantle; T Williams; Kaline;Braves) $12. Sept 18 Braves (Yankees; Dodgers; Giants; Mantle; Mathews) $12. Oct 16 Cardinals (WS Game by Game review/overview; 10-yr rookie picks; Dodgers LA move) $35. Dec 11 Dodgers/Giants (NL Batting Stats; Musial .351 average) $15. Dec 18 White Sox (AL Batting &NL Pitching Stats) $12. 1958 Jan 22 Players' Salaries (Yankees; Dodgers; Mays) $10. Jan 29 Dodgers, Giants, Yankees Attendance (LAColiseum; Cards All-Time Team) $12. Feb 12 T Williams, Musial, Mays Salaries (HOF Voting-last 2 pgs tape repair) $18. Mar 26 Mathewsarticle (Braves to repeat?; Yankees; Dodgers) $12. May 7 Giants (Musial; B Rob; Strike zone; NYC BB Market) $12. May 28 Pirates (Yan-kees) $10. July 30 P Wrigley (AL Scoreboards; Bunning No-hitter; Maz; Giants) $10. Aug 6 Shakespeare & BB "Midsummer night's …"(Red Sox Old-Timers; Beanballs; F Rob) $12. Aug 13 Phils' Whiz Kids (HOF AL Scorebooks) $12. Sept 13 HR Craze Ruining Hitting (Maristo Yanks prediction) $15. Sept 13 WS Scouting Reports (Mays & Mantle select AS game squads) $10. Nov 5 (Players pick AS fielders; Mu-sial; Yankees) $12. Nov 19 Orioles & Cardinals (Mays) $10. Nov 26 Giants (Cardinals) $12. 1959 Mar 11 Old Pros "Show Kiddies" ("Who'son 1st?"; Dodgers stadium design) $10. May 13 Yankees, Indians, ("Kid" Killebrew) $12. 1961 May 24 Tigers (Koufax; Drysdale) $22. 1963July 20 Koufax; Aaron (Taped Spine) $15. 1975 Jan 25 (Don Wilson's suicide; Fred Merkel) $8. Feb 8 Tear on cover (Kiner HOF; Munson;Torre) $6. Feb 22 (Schmidt; Steinbrenner suspension) $6. Mar 29 (BB full rosters/preview) $12. May 3 F Rob (Palmer; Lynn Rookie Report;Aaron; Brett) $12. May 10 (Stargell; J Morgan; Tony C) $8. May 24 (Yount; Rose) $8. Aug 16 (B Ruth; B Martin; R Jackson) $8. Aug 23 Kaat(HOF voting; B Feller; Reds) $8. Aug 30 (HOF inductions; '70-'75 Reds comparison; Torre) $7. Nov 15 (Palmer Cy Young; Reds) $6. Dec 6(Lynn MVP/ROY; Stargell) $8. Dec 13 taped pages (Morgan MVP; Brett; N Fox Dies) $8. Dec 20 (Last Black Sox player dies; Brett) $12. Dec27 (Fans memorable moments) $6. 1976 Mar 13 (Cards alumni 1920s; Brock; Marvin Miller) $5. May 15 (P Rose; Gashouse gang) $8. June19 (NL History '26 to '50-each year; Max Carey dies; 50 HR feats) $15. Aug 7 (J Dykes; Anderson-Reds prediction) $8. Sept 11 (Reds; '42 Car-dinals; Torre) $8. Nov 13 (WS-Bench/Munson; Schmidt) $6. Dec 11 (Palmer; Yanks sign R Jackson) $7. Dec 25 Bert Jones (Final NL battingstats; Finley/Kuhn feud) $7.

World Series Reprint Programs: Limited to 1000; Each now 30+ yrs old. 1894 "World's Championship Series, Temple Cup" $125. 1903(1st modern day WS) $115. 1915 Boston vs. Phil $95. 1919 Chicago (Black Sox) vs. Cinci. 1st in series so doesn’t state limited edition; high de-mand. $145. 1921 Giants vs. Yanks $95. 1926 Cards vs. Yanks $95. 1927 Pirates vs. Yanks (early edition so doesn’t state limited edition; highdemand) $95. 1930 St. Louis vs. Philadelphia $95. 1942 Cards vs. Yankees $95. 1943 Cards vs. Yankees $95.

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Top first-year players were led by league Rookie of the Year Award winners first basemanJose Abreu of the White Sox and Metspitcher Jacob deGrom

2014

JOSEABREU

JACOBdeGROM

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Baseball Digest’s 2014 All-Rookie Team doesn’t looklike it was supposed to. A number of position play-ers who were expected to shine bright in their firstfull season fell short of expectations. Red Sox phe-

nom Xander Bogaerts, who excelled in the 2013 postseason,didn’t make this list. Nor did Nick Castellanos of the Tigers orGregory Polanco of the Pirates. They still project as stars, butthey weren’t among the best rookies at their positions.

The same was true on the pitching front. Many preseasonpredictions had Archie Bradley of the Diamondbacks, KevinGausman of the Orioles and Taijuan Walker of the Marinerscompeting for top-rookie honors. They likewise have promis-ing futures, but their just-completed seasons weren’t whatmany predicted. Less-touted pitching prospectsperformed better.

Who did make this year’s list? Someof the names were well-knowncoming into the season, but sev-eral others seemingly came outof nowhere.

ROOKIE ALL-STAR TEAM

OF—Billy Hamilton, CincinnatiReds, .250/.292/.355, 56 SB

Billy Hamilton provided the lion’sshare of his value with defense andbaserunning. The fastest player inbaseball finished among the leagueleaders in stolen bases and was credit-ed with 14 Defensive Runs Saved. Hegot off to a painfully slow start at theplate—six for his first 43—but gainedtraction as he went along. His 56steals pale in comparison to therecord 155 he swiped as a minor lea-guer in 2012, but that was mostly aresult of his pedestrian on-base per-centage. According to FanGraphs,Hamilton ran in 46 percent of hisstolen-base opportunities, the highestrate in either league (minimum 100chances).

OF—Ender Inciarte, ArizonaDiamondbacks, .278/.318/.359, 19 SB

A handful of players on this year’sAll-Star Rookie Team earned berthsprimarily because of their gloves.Ender Inciarte is among them. The24-year-old D’back had 23 DefensiveRuns Saved, third-most amongNational League outfielders. He alsoranked third in ultimate rating zone(UZR). On the offensive side of theball, he made up for a lack of power byswiping 19 bases in 22 attempts.Inciarte was briefly lost to thePhiladelphia organization in the 2012Rule 5 draft. The following April hewas returned to his old club—Arizonaoriginally signed him as a teenagerout of Venezuela—and 13 monthslater he was patrolling the outfield atChase Field.

OF—Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa BayRays, .263/.315/.450, 10 HR

Kevin Kiermaier came into the 2014season with a reputation as one of thebest defensive outfielders in minorleague baseball. The Rays had somuch faith in his glove—and hispoise—that Kiermaier’s major leaguedebut came as a defensive replace-ment in the 2013 wild-card play-ingame. His bat was a question mark,but that’s no longer the case.Kiermaier still profiles as a speed-and-defense whiz, but his left-handedstroke produced 16 doubles, eighttriples and 10 home runs in 331 at-bats. A fifth-round pick in 2010, he isthe fifth player to make the bigleagues out of Parkland College, aDivision II school in Champaign, Ill.


In 2014, Jose Abreu became the first rookie to lead his league

in slugging percentage (.581)since Ryan Braun (.634) topped

the N.L. in 2007.

MASAHIROTANAKA

BILLY HAMILTON

ENDER INCIARTE

KEVIN KIERMAIER

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By DAVID LAURILA

1B—Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox,.317/.383/.581, 36 HR

Jose Abreu was a slam-dunk as theAmerican League’s best rookie. No one in thesenior circuit was better either. The power-hitting Cuban import made mincemeat outof opposing pitchers, bashing 36 homeruns—over half of which traveled more than400 feet—and driving home 107 runs. Abreuis a big man and he’s making big money.Listed at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, he inked a six-year $68-million contract with the White Soxin October 2013. Abreu became the 24th for-eign-born player, and fourth Cuban, to benamed Rookie of the Yearby the Baseball Writers’Association of America. Hegarnered all 30 first-placevotes.

2B—Joe Panik, SanFrancisco Giants,.305/.343/.368, 1 HR

Kolten Wong of the St.Louis Cardinals has a goodargument for this designa-tion. He played in nearlytwice as many games as JoePanik and helped lead theRedbirds to a division title.But the nod goes to the playerwhose team knocked offWong’s on its way to a WorldSeries title. Panik came up bigwhen it counted. He hit a go-ahead home run in Game 5 ofthe NLCS, and he made aspectacular, rally-killing de-fensive play in Game 7 of theWorld Series. Unheraldedcoming into the season—hewas rated the ninth-bestprospect in the Giants sys-tem—Panik proceeded to hitover .300 after being calledup in June.

3B—Yangervis Solarte, N.Y. Yankees/SanDiego Padres, .260/.336/.369, 10 HR

Many anticipated Nick Castellanos would bethe best first-year player at the hot corner. TheTigers’ top-rated prospect put up decent num-bers, but he wasn’t as productive as the compar-atively obscure Yangervis Solarte. The 27-year-old stepped in for the suspended Alex Rodriguez,and while he didn’t make Yankees fans forget theshamed superstar, he more than held his own.Come late July, Solarte had a new home. ThePadres acquired the switch-hitting Venezuelanfrom New York in exchange for Chase Headley.Solarte played eight minor league seasons, withtwo organizations, before making “The Show.”

SS—Danny Santana, Minnesota Twins,.319/.353/.472, 20 SB

Take a look at Danny Santana’s 2014 num-bers. Unless you’re a Twins fan, you probablydidn’t realize they were that good. Of course,it’s not hard to fly under the radar whenyou’re playing for a non-contending small-market team. As a result, Santana was basi-cally a Cessna at a national level. Give creditto Minnesota’s international scouting depart-ment for landing a good one out of theDominican Republic in 2007. The 24-year-olddidn’t come into the campaign with muchfanfare, but he outperformed a lot of 747s

with his rookie-best .319batting average.

C—Travis d’Arnaud, NewYork Mets, .242/.302/.416,13 HR

A catcher’s primary job isdefense, and RobinsonChirinos of the Rangers wassuperior in that area, butTravis d’Arnaud gets thisslot thanks to a second-halfhitting surge. Age is also afactor, as the Mets backstopis 25 and Chinios is a 30-year-old journeyman whotechnically qualified as arookie. For a time, d’Arnaudlooked underqualified tohandle big league pitching.He was sent to Triple-A LasVegas in early June with a.180 batting average. Thedemotion caught d’Arnoud’sattention, as he hit .272 with10 home runs after beingcalled back up. His blockingand throwing remain ques-tion marks, but he canswing it.

DH—George Springer, Houston Astros,.231/.336/.468, 20 HR

George Springer was on his way to a monsterseason before being derailed by a quad injuryin mid-July. It wasn’t going to be a high-bat-ting-average season, and the strikeout num-bers weren’t going to be pretty, but he was onpace for more than 30 home runs. In a yearwhen power numbers were down across bothleagues, the 2011 first-round draft pick wasproviding plenty of it. Springer isn’t one-dimensional when healthy. He possesses greatwheels, as evidenced by his 45 stolen basesbetween two minor league levels in 2013.There’s a lot of swing-and-miss in his game,but he profiles as one of Houston’s best all-around players going forward.


2014 ROOKIE ALL-STAR TEAM

In his 2014 debut, Santana hit .319, stole 20bases and scored 70 runs in 101 games.

JOSE ABREU

JOE PANIK

YANGERVIS SOLARTE

TRAVIS d’ARNAUD

GEORGE SPRINGER

BROCK HOLT

DANNYSANTANA

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UT—Brock Holt, Boston Red Sox, .281/.331/.381, 4 HR

Brock Holt was Mr. Versatility for the RedSox this season. The one-time Pirates farm-hand played 39 games at third base, 35 in rightfield, 12 at shortstop, 11 at second base, 10 incenter field, and eight each in left field and atfirst base. Despite no previous experience atseveral of the spots, he handled all withaplomb. He also handled the bat. Swingingfrom the left side, Holt was batting .300 inmid-August before a late-season swoondropped him to .281. A hard-nosed player inthe style of Dustin Pedroia, Holt suppliedenergy to an underachieving team that epito-mized the term “World Series hangover.”

SP—Jacob deGrom, New YorkMets, 9-6, 2.69, 140.1 IP, 144 SO

Fans of a certain age willremember Mark “The Bird”Fidrych, who had a magical rook-ie season for the Tigers in 1976.Jacob deGrom has a littleFidrych in him, with his leanbuild and a shaggy mane flowingbelow his cap. The Mets young-ster doesn’t get on his knees andgroom the mound as “The Bird”once did, but he mesmerizes hit-ters in the same way. A formercollege shortstop, deGrom struckout over a batter per inning and had one of thehighest swing-and-miss rates in the NationalLeague. Not surprisingly, his performancemade him a fan favorite at Citi Field.

SP—Collin McHugh, Houston Astros, 11-9,2.73, 154.2 IP, 157 SO

Collin who? McHugh was hardly a householdname coming into the season, and to a certaindegree he's still relatively unknown among casu-al fans. That may be about to change. The Astrosrighty put up some pretty fancy numbers thisyear, and there’s reason to believe his successwill continue. McHugh isn’t an imposing figureon the mound, nor does he have big-time stuff.What he has is an excellent feel for his craft. Hestruggled in brief cameos with the Mets beforecoming to Houston and working with pitchingguru Brent Strom. McHugh mixes and matches adiving slider and well-placed fastballs.

SP—Matt Shoemaker, Los Angeles Angels,16-4, 3.04, 136 IP, 124 SO

In 2008, the Angels signed Matt Shoemakeras an amateur free agent after he wentundrafted out of Eastern Michigan University.The right-hander proceeded to log a 4.50 ERAin six minor league seasons, not once seeinghis name on a top-prospect list. Then he cameout this year and won 16 games in a big league

rotation. Isn’t baseball fun? It wasn’t fun foropposing hitters, who were continually baf-fled by Shoemaker’s split-finger fastball andprecision control. He was at his best when itcounted most, winning his last seven regular-season decisions and allowing one run in hislone postseason start.

SP—Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees,13-5, 2.77, 136.1 IP, 141 SO

When Masahiro Tanaka went down with apartially torn UCL on July 8, the Yankees’playoff chances went down with him. The$155-million Japanese import was the club’sbest pitcher, and a four-game deficit in theAmerican League East ballooned in his

absence. While healthy, Tanakawas every bit as good as adver-tised. He wasn’t as good as the 24-0 record he fashioned for NipponProfessional Baseball’s TohukuRakuten Golden Eagles in 2013,but he made the All-Star team andwas on his way to a 20-win sea-son. Tanaka opted for rehab oversurgery and returned to make twoappearances in late September.

SP—Yordano Ventura, KansasCity Royals, 14-10, 3.20, 183 IP,159 SO

Players can tell you things thatnumbers can’t. During spring training, I wasin a restaurant with a small group that includ-ed a player who had recently hit againstYordano Ventura in a Cactus League game.Ventura was pitching on TV that night, andthe player pointed to the screen and said,“Watch this guy; he’s absolutely filthy. He’sgoing to be really good.” The assessment wasright on. Ventura overpowered AmericanLeague hitters with a fastball that averaged 96mph and often reached triple digits. The lanky23-year-old Dominican won Game 6 of theWorld Series with seven shutout innings.

CL—Dellin Betances, New York Yankees, 5-0, 1.40, 1 save

Jacob Petricka of the White Sox led all rook-ies with 14 saves, while Dellin Betances spentthe season as a setup man for David Robertsonand had just one. We’re going to overlook that,because Betances was simply too good not tobe recognized. The 6-foot-8 right-hander wasamong the most dominant relievers in base-ball, striking out 135 batters in 90 innings over70 games. Featuring high-90s heat and aknee-buckling curveball, he allowed just 46hits on the season. Betances is 26 years old,the same age Mariano Rivera was when heexcelled as John Wetteland’s setup man in1996. He has closer stuff. BD

COLLIN McHUGH

DELLIN BETANCES

YORDANO VENTURA

MASAHIRO TANAKA

JACOB deGROM

MATT SHOEMAKER


2014 ROOKIE ALL-STAR TEAM

Betances is 26 years old, the same age

Mariano Riverawas when heexcelled as

John Wetteland’ssetup man in1996. He hascloser stuff.

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200 HITSYear Player, Team H2001 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 2421922 Joe Jackson, Indians 2331927 Lloyd Waner, Pirates 2231964 Tony Oliva, Twins 2171929 Dale Alexander, Tigers 2151929 Johnny Frederick, Dodgers 2091953 Harvey Kuenn, Tigers 2091997 Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 2091987 Kevin Seitzer, Royals 2071934 Hal Trosky, Indians 2061936 Joe DiMaggio, Yankees 2061942 Johnny Pesky, Red Sox 2051925 Earle Combs, Yankees 2031932 Billy Herman, Cubs 2031929 Roy Johnson, Tigers 2011964 Dick Allen, Phillies 2011943 Dick Wakefield, Tigers 200

100 RBIYear Player, Team RBI1939 Ted Williams, Red Sox 1451950 Walt Dropo, Red Sox 1441934 Hal Trosky, Indians 1421929 Dale Alexander, Tigers 1372001 Albert Pujols, Cardinals 1301936 Joe DiMaggio, Yankees 1251930 Wally Berger, Braves 1191987 Mark McGwire, A’s 1181931 Joe Vosmik, Indians 1171986 Jose Canseco, A’s 1171950 Al Rosen, Indians 1161984 Alvin Davis, Mariners 1161926 Tony Lazzeri, Yankees 1141930 Smead Jolley, White Sox 1141938 Ken Keltner, Indians 1131911 Ping Bodie, White Sox 1121953 Ray Jablonski, Cardinals 1121993 Mike Piazza, Dodgers 1121924 Glenn Wright, Pirates 1111938 Johnny Rizzo, Pirates 1111934 Zeke Bonura, White Sox 1102006 Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals 1101999 Carlos Beltran, Royals 1081930 Gus Suhr, Pirates 1071950 Luke Easter, Indians 1072014 Jose Abreu, White Sox 1071928 Del Bissonette, Dodgers 1062003 Hideki Matsui, Yankees 1061975 Fred Lynn, Red Sox 1051928 Pinky Whitney, Phillies 1031937 Rudy York, Tigers 1031957 Frank Malzone, Red Sox 1031924 Al Simmons, A’s 1021975 Jim Rice, Red Sox 1021940 Babe Young, Giants 1011953 Jim Greengrass, Reds 1001983 Ron Kittle, White Sox 1001986 Wally Joyner, Angels 100

100 RUNSYear Player, Team Runs1927 Lloyd Waner, Pirates 1331936 Joe DiMaggio, Yankees 1321939 Ted Williams, Red Sox 1312012 Mike Trout, Angels 1291929 Roy Johnson, Tigers 1281929 Johnny Frederick, Dodgers 1272001 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 1271911 Joe Jackson, Indians 1261947 Jackie Robinson, Dodgers 1251953 Jim Gilliam, Dodgers 1251964 Dick Allen, Phillies 1251956 Frank Robinson, Reds 1221997 Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 1221939 Barney McCosky, Tigers 1202006 Hanley Ramirez, Marlins 1191925 Earle Combs, Yankees 1171934 Hal Trosky, Indians 1171948 Whitey Lockman, Giants 1171900 Jimmy Barrett, Reds 1141909 Donie Bush, Tigers 1141951 Minnie Minoso, Cle./Chi. 1121999 Carlos Beltran, Royals 1122001 Albert Pujols, Cardinals 1121929 Dale Alexander, Tigers 1101929 Earl Averill, Indians 1101964 Tony Oliva, Twins 1091961 Dick Howser, A’s 1081985 Vince Coleman, Cardinals 1071954 Wally Moon, Cardinals 1061913 Eddie Murphy, A’s 1051942 Johnny Pesky, Red Sox 1051984 Juan Samuel, Phillies 1051987 Kevin Seitzer, Royals 1052006 Dan Uggla, Marlins 1051912 Morrie Rath, White Sox 1041934 Harlond Clift, Browns 1041938 Jeff Heath, Indians 1041996 Derek Jeter, Yankees 1042000 Terrence Long, A’s 1042007 Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies 1041921 Lu Blue, Tigers 1031933 Bob Johnson, A’s 1031975 Fred Lynn, Red Sox 1031982 Ryne Sandberg, Cubs 1031987 Devon White, Angels 1032010 Austin Jackson, Tigers 1031901 Irv Waldron, Mil./Wash. 1021928 Carl Lind, Indians 1021932 Billy Herman, Cubs 1021937 Hersh Martin, Phillies 1021921 Joe Sewell, Indians 1011926 Paul Waner, Pirates 1011950 Walt Dropo, Red Sox 1011963 Pete Rose, Reds 1011950 Al Rosen, Indians 1001950 Sam Jethroe, Braves 1001965 Joe Morgan, Astros 1002003 Scott Podsednik, Brewers 100

30 HOME RUNSYear Player, Team HR1987 Mark McGwire, A’s 491930 Wally Berger, Braves 381956 Frank Robinson, Reds 381950 Al Rosen, Indians 372001 Albert Pujols, Cardinals 372014 Jose Abreu, White Sox 361934 Hal Trosky, Indians 351937 Rudy York, Tigers 351983 Ron Kittle, White Sox 351993 Mike Piazza, Dodgers 351950 Walt Dropo, Red Sox 342007 Ryan Braun, Brewers 341963 Jimmie Hall, Twins 331971 Earl Williams, Braves 331986 Jose Canseco, A’s 331964 Tony Oliva, Twins 321987 Matt Nokes, Tigers 322007 Chris Young, D’backs 321939 Ted Williams, Red Sox 311964 Jim Ray Hart, Giants 311993 Tim Salmon, Angels 311959 Bob Allison, Senators 301971 Willie Montanez, Phillies 301986 Pete Incaviglia, Rangers 301997 Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 302012 Mike Trout, Angels 30

HANLEY RAMIREZFLORIDA MARLINS

RON KITTLE

MINNIEMINOSO


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40 DOUBLESYear Player, Team 2B1929 Johnny Frederick, Dodgers 521975 Fred Lynn, Red Sox 472001 Albert Pujols, Cardinals 472006 Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals 472006 Hanley Ramirez, Marlins 461911 Joe Jackson, Indians 451929 Roy Johnson, Tigers 451934 Hal Trosky, Indians 451933 Bob Johnson, A’s 441936 Joe DiMaggio, Yankees 441939 Ted Williams, Red Sox 441997 Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 441998 Brad Fullmer, Expos 441929 Dale Alexander, Tigers 431929 Earl Averill, Indians 431964 Tony Oliva, Twins 431928 Carl Lind, Indians 421932 Billy Herman, Cubs 422003 Hideki Matsui, Yankees 421998 Ben Grieve, A’s 411920 Bob Meusel, Yankees 401933 Joe Medwick, Cardinals 401968 Johnny Bench, Reds 401988 Chris Sabo, Reds 40

15 TRIPLESYear Player, Team 3B1915 Tom Long, Cardinals 251926 Paul Waner, Pirates 221904 Joe Cassidy, Senators 191909 Frank Baker, A’s 191911 Joe Jackson, Indians 191984 Juan Samuel, Phillies 191904 Harry Lumley, Dodgers 181924 Glenn Wright, Pirates 181935 Ival Goodman, Reds 181915 Braggo Roth, Chi./Cle. 171926 Charlie Gehringer, Tigers 171929 Russ Scarritt, Red Sox 171953 Jim Gilliam, Dodgers 171901 Kitty Bransfield, Pirates 171921 Sam Bohne, Reds 161924 Kiki Cuyler, Pirates 161901 Hobe Ferris, Red Sox 151903 Dave Brain, Cardinals 151910 Jake Daubert, Dodgers 151910 Zack Wheat, Dodgers 151912 Del Pratt, Browns 151916 Whitey Witt, A’s 151916 Rogers Hornsby, Cardinals 151928 Red Barnes, Senators 151929 Dale Alexander, Tigers 151936 Joe DiMaggio, Yankees 151991 Ray Lankford, Cardinals 15

50 STOLEN BASESYear Team, Player SB1985 Vince Coleman, Cardinals 1101984 Juan Samuel, Phillies 721981 Tim Raines, Expos 711992 Kenny Lofton, Indians 661997 Tony Womak, Pirates 601993 Chuck Carr, Marlins 581913 Nap Myers, Braves 571977 Gene Richards, Padres 561995 Quilvio Veras, Marlins 562001 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 562014 Billy Hamilton, Reds 561909 Bob Bescher, Reds 541992 Pat Listash, Brewers 541909 Donie Bush, Tigers 532006 Hanley Ramirez, Marlins 511986 John Cangelosi, White Sox 501995 Tom Goodwin, Royals 502008 Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox 50

20 WINSYear Pitcher, Team W-L1911 Grover Alexander, Phillies 28-131910 Russ Ford, Highlanders 26- 61912 Larry Cheney, Cubs 26-101908 Ed Summers, Tigers 24- 81901 Roscoe Miller, Tigers 23-131911 Vean Gregg, Indians 23- 71908 George McQuillan, Phillies 23-171914 Jeff Pfeffer, Dodgers 23-121932 Monte Weaver, Senators 22-101913 Reb Russell, White Sox 21-171918 Scott Perry, A’s 21-191929 Wes Ferrell, Indians 21-101945 Boo Ferriss, Red Sox 21-101947 Larry Jansen, Giants 21- 51942 Johnny Beazley, Cardinals 21- 61903 Harry Schmidt, Dodgers 21-131944 Bill Voiselle, Giants 21-161901 Christy Mathewson, Giants 20-171901 Roy Patterson, White Sox 20-161903 Jake Weimer, Cubs 20- 81905 Irv Young, Braves 20-211906 Jack Pfiester, Cubs 20- 81910 King Cole, Cubs 20- 41912 Hugh Bedient, Red Sox 20-101937 Lou Fette, Braves 20-101937 Jim Turner, Braves 20-111937 Cliff Melton, Giants 20- 91948 Gene Bearden, Indians 20- 71949 Alex Kellner, A’s 20-121953 Harvey Haddix, Cardinals 20- 91954 Bob Grim, Yankees 20- 61985 Tom Browining, Reds 20- 9

200 STRIKEOUTSYear Pitcher, Team SO1984 Dwight Gooden, Mets 2761955 Herb Score, Indians 2451995 Hideo Nomo, Dodgers 2361998 Kerry Wood, Cubs 2331911 Grover Alexander, Phillies 2271901 Tom Hughes, Cubs 2251901 Christy Mathewson, Giants 2212012 Yu Darvish, Rangers 2211975 John Montefusco, Giants 2151910 Russ Ford, Highlanders 2091966 Don Sutton, Dodgers 2091966 Gary Nolan, Reds 2061984 Mark Langston, Mariners 2042007 Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox 2011969 Tom Griffin, Astros 2001970 Bob Johnson, Royals 200

30 SAVESYear Pitcher, Team Svs2011 Craig Kimbrel, Braves 412010 Neftali Feliz, Rangers 402000 Kazuhiro Sasaki, Mariners 371986 Todd Worrell, Cardinals 362006 Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox 352011 Jordan Walden, Angels 321999 Billy Koch, Blue Jays 311998 Kerry Ligtenberg, Braves 30

JOE DiMAGGIO

DWIGHT GOODENNEW YORK METS

JACOBYELLSBURY


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T ry catching up with Washington Nationals pitch-er Doug Fister on a workday. It’s difficult. Hedoesn’t walk. He runs: into the clubhouse to grab

equipment, onto the field for practice. He runs prettymuch everywhere.

The sinkerballer carries his fast pace into games,and that’s a big reason why he led the Nationals in vic-tories last season.

Indeed, Fister is the kind of pitcher Major LeagueBaseball probably would like to clone. The league iskeen on speeding up games. Fister’s known for pitch-ing games that are typically shorter than average.

“For me on the field, everything is at a quick tempo,”Fister explained. “Keeping guys on their toes. Lettingthe defense work. I have to rely on them. I have to relyon them just as much as they rely on me.”

Fister’s delivery time to the plate is among thequickest in the game. And with the ball getting to thecatcher so fast, it leaves almost no time for a baserun-ner to steal.

In fact, no one stole on Fister in 2014. The only play-er to try, outfielder Gerardo Parra, was thrown out atsecond base.

That’s no fluke either. The 6-foot-8, 210-poundFister has allowed only 16 stolen bases during hisentire seven-year career, which has included three-year stints in both Detroit and Seattle.

“He is the consummate professional in the way hegoes about his business,” Washington pitching coachSteve McCatty said. “He understands how important itis to hold the runner close to first base because thatsets up the groundball double play. That’s a big deal tohim.”

ESPN analyst John Krukbelieves Fister is an anomaly. Hesays tall pitchers are typically slowto the plate and have trouble hold-ing runners.

“He pitches quick,” said Kruk, a for-mer first baseman and outfielder withPhiladelphia, San Diego and the ChicagoWhite Sox. “As a defender, you love that. For a guythat tall, you expect him to be slow to home. He’s veryathletic, so he can change his tempo. He can go quickon you and his mechanics stay the same.”

Fister’s other claim to fame is success in October.In his only playoff start for Washington on Oct. 6, he

pitched seven shutout innings to earn a 4-1 victory inGame 3 of the Division Series against the Giants in SanFrancisco.

It was Fister’s eighth postseason start and fourthvictory. In 55.1 innings, he has a 2.60 ERA.

This is exactly the kind of quality the Nationals cov-eted when they acquired Fister by trading utilityinfielder Steve Lombardozzi and pitchers Ian Krol andRobbie Ray to Detroit in December 2013.

“We scouted him extensively,” Nationals generalmanager Mike Rizzo said. “Our talent evaluators lovedhim. Our analytics guys loved him. Usually, when weare on the same page here in that way, it’s a guy wereally have high expectations for. Obviously, thatmade the target much more attractive for us.”

Fister went 16-6 last season, with a 2.41 ERA thatranked sixth in the major leagues. He pitched 164innings, giving up 153 hits and striking out 98 batterswhile walking only 24.

That’s a pretty good season, considering that hemissed the first month due to a strained lat muscle he


DOUG FISTERContinues To Evolve As A Big-Game Pitcher

By TOM WORGO

Tall right-hander led the Nationals with 16 victories in 2014 and his 2.41 ERA was fourth best in the National League

suffered in spring training.“Doug had an incredible year this year,” said

TBS analyst Ron Darling, a former Mets and A’spitcher. “Everybody talks about Clayton Kershawwinning 21 games. If Fister hadn’t missed signifi-cant time in April, it might have been an 18-winseason for him. He is the guy when a pitcher gets

blown out the night before, and you need him togo seven innings, he’ll do it. He is just Mr.Dependable.”

And the 30-year-old Fister is also a mentorto the younger starters in the Nationals rota-tion.

Tanner Roark, a 28-year-old second-yearpro last season, Stephen Strasburg, a 26-year-

old five-year veteran, and Jordan Zimmermann,a 28-year-old six-year veteran, have all benefit-

ed from Fister’s presence. Even the 29-year-old Gio Gonzalez, with seven years in themajors, says he learned a few things fromFister.

“He not only has experience, but he hassuccessful experience in the postseason,”Gonzalez said. “When you put that kindof guy in the rotation with really goodpitchers without the (postseason) experi-

ence, I think they can feed off that and itmakes everybody better. He’s done just

that. His presence alone has made every-body better in this rotation.”Fister, who played first base at both Merced

Community College and Fresno State, is also oneof the best fielding pitchers in baseball. He is alsoreliable at the plate, laying down nine sacrificebunts in 2014.

“He gives himself a chance to win every gamein every aspect,” Washington manager MattWilliams said. “He can handle the bat at theplate. He fields the ball well. He throws great tothe bases. He does all the things that would allowhim to stay deep in a game.”

Fister throws a quality curveball and change-up, but his signature pitch is his devastatingsinker. Strangely enough, his best pitch is the onethat eluded him until he got to the big leagueswith Seattle in 2009.

“I was just playing with grips and just kind ofgoofing around and just found it,” said Fister,who was a seventh-round pick in 2006. “That’sbeen a huge key in my career. It’s something Icouldn’t throw much in the minor leagues. I was-n’t really that confident in it.”

Darling loves watching Fister pitch. After all,he was a sinkerballer himself.

“I always judge sinkerballers by one way: it’s nothow much it sinks, but how late it sinks,” Darlingexplained. “That’s the difference between Dougand all the other sinkerball pitchers.

“When they see the ball come out of his handthey think it’s a fastball,” Darling added. “Theygo to swing and the ball moves down. That latebreak is really what confuses hitters.”

Fister has had no problems at all adapting to a


DOUG FISTER

MATTWILLIAMS

“He gives himself a chance

to win every gamein every aspect.

He can handle thebat at the plate.

He fields the ballwell. He throws

great to thebases. He does

all the things thatwould allow him

to stay deep in a game.”

—Matt Williams Phot

os b

y Sp

ortP

ics

new team. He’s been traded twice. Besides winning 16games with the Nationals, he went 8-1 (1.79) with Detroitin 10 second-half starts in 2011 after being dealt fromSeattle. He had spent three lackluster seasons with theMariners, going 12-30 with a 3.81 ERA.

“The main focus for me is trying to keep everything thesame,” Fister said. “It doesn’t matter what uniform I haveon or what field I step onto, it’s the same job for me. I getto know each guy in the clubhouse and be a good team-mate and the baseball stuff will take care of itself.”

There was a time, back in 2008, when it didn’t look likeFister was going to get to the majors.

At Double-A West Tennessee in the Southern League, hewent 6-14 with a 5.43 ERA. The following year at Triple-ATacoma and with Seattle, he discovered and focused onhis strengths.

“I don’t think it was so much changing as a pitcher,”Fister said. “I think it was more about evolving into what I

am and what makes me. It was finally learning thatprocess.”

If Fister hadn’t been a baseball player, he most likelywould have been a police officer or a firefighter. Those twoprofessions run in his blood going back at least four gen-erations—all the way back to his great-grandfather, whowas a fireman in the 19th century.

His father, Larry Fister, an athletic man who playedfootball at Fresno State, was a fire captain and SWAT teammember in Merced, Calif.

“I would like to think that had it not been for baseball, Iwould have followed in my family’s footsteps,” Fister said.“I went to school for teaching, but I really like law enforce-ment, the military and stuff like that. It was definitely a

possibility of me going into a careerlike that.”

During his father’s 12-year career asa firefighter, Fister spent a lot of timein the firehouse and around firemen.What really rubbed off on him was thesense of family.

“Trust. That’s the epitome of thepolice and fire department,” Fistersaid. “You have to trust one anotherand have each other’s backs. That’s

not just on the job.That’s all the time.That’s off the job,too.”

He also learnedabout hard work andgetting the job done.He says that has alsocarried him throughhis career.

“That’s everything Ibelieve in, the way Iwas raised,” Fistersaid. “My folks, myfamily, taught me thatand it’s something I doevery day.” BD


DOUG FISTER“The main focus for me is trying to

keep everything thesame. It doesn’t

matter what uniformI have on or whatfield I step onto,

it’s the same job forme. I get to know

each guy in the clubhouse and be agood teammate and

the baseball stuffwill take care

of itself.”—Doug Fister

HISASHIIWAKUMA

Since 2012, Doug Fister has a 40-25 won-lost record with a 3.22 ERA and 394 strikeouts in 534.1 innings.

Pitchers Who Allowed Fewest Steals Against(Minimum 150 innings pitched)

In 2014, Doug Fister and Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma were the only pitchers in the majors to work 150 or more innings without allowing a stolen base.

SBPITCHER, TEAM IP AGAINSTHisashi Iwakuma, Mariners 179.0 0Doug Fister, Nationals 164.0 0Chris Tillman, Orioles 207.1 1Lance Lynn, Cardinals 203.2 1Mark Buehrle, Blue Jays 202.0 1Dallas Keuchel, Astros 200.0 1Nathan Eovaldi, Marlins 199.2 1Yordano Ventura, Royals 183.0 1Hyun-jin Ryu, Dodgers 152.0 2R.A. Dickey, Blue Jays 215.2 3Bartolo Colon, Mets 202.1 3Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals 199.2 3Roenis Elias, Mariners 163.2 3Wade Miley, D’backs 201.1 4Hiroki Kuroda, Yankees 199.0 4Chris Sale, White Sox 174.0 4Jake Odorizzi, Rays 168.0 4Vidal Nuno, Yankees/D’backs 161.2 4


THE GAME I’LL NEVER

FORGET

The 1990 World Series was expect-ed to be more coronation thancompetition. After all, Oaklandswept San Francisco in the 1989

World Series following a 99-win season.Then the Athletics won 103 games in 1990and obliterated Boston in the AmericanLeague Championship Series, outscoringthe Red Sox by the ridiculous margin of20-4.

Oakland’s National League opponent inthe Fall Classic, the Cincinnati Reds, hadfinished 17 games out of first in 1989. Littlewas expected from Lou Piniella’s gang in1990, but the Reds went 91-71 and capturedthe N.L. West by five games over LosAngeles.

The Reds also weren’t supposed to getby Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy VanSlyke and the rest of the Pirates in theNLCS, but defeated Pittsburgh in six onthe strength of their pitching, specificallytheir bullpen.

Closer Randy Myers and setup men RobDibble and Norm Charlton were known as“the Nasty Boys,” three guys who threw hard,threw inside and threw with intimidation. Inthe NLCS, the trio combined for 12 appear-ances with 16 strikeouts in 15.2 innings, onewin and four saves, a 0.57 ERA and 0.83WHIP. With three saves, Myers was namedthe NLCS Most Valuable Player.

“We started late in 1990 because of the

lockout,” said Myers, “but Lou Piniellacalled us during the lockout and let usknow that we needed to be ready to gobecause it would only be a three-weekspring training when we started. We didn’tknow when it would start, but when it didwe had to be ready right away.

“That was big because the starterswouldn’t be ready to go seven or eight, sothe bullpen had to be ready. That’s kind ofhow it all started. That’s how we startedplaying five-inning games right away andit kind of never stopped.

“The other big thing,” added Myers,“was there was some grumbling in springtraining because Lou had replaced PeteRose, the most popular person in the his-tory of the city. And I was traded from theMets for John Franco, who was the mostpopular player in Cincinnati and a lock-down closer. Johnny was going backhome, so that was good for him, and theReds saved money, but there was someunhappiness.”

The unhappiness evaporated prettyquickly when the Reds started on theroad and won their first six. Then theycame home and won three more.

“Yeah, that took care of all the worry,”Myers laughed. “We had a four-game leadafter nine games and the bullpen bullpenwas dominating. We had this great lefty-right-lefty combo that was ending games

BY RANDY MYERS As Told To Barry Rozner

Former closer recalls

recording thefinal outs

of Reds’ 1990World Seriessweep of theOakland A’s

after five innings. We went wire-to-wire and other teams had to man-age differently against us because—like the Royals in 2014—if youdidn’t get us before five, the game was over. Our starters were very,very comfortable, too, because they knew they could let it all hang outearly. If they got us to five, they had a win.”

Facing the powerhouse Athletics in the World Series, however, theReds lineup featured only one player with 25 home runs (Chris Sabo)and only one player with as many as 86 RBI (Eric Davis). Oakland,meanwhile, had the greatest leadoff man in history in RickeyHenderson, who tallied 119 runs, 28 homers and 65 stolen bases in1990, and no Cincinnati regular could match any of those totals. TwoOakland regulars drove in more than 100 runs (Mark McGwire andJose Canseco), and three had at least 28 home runs.

Simply put, the World Series wasn’t expected to be much of a con-test. The problem for Oakland is the Reds weren’t buying it.

“Actually, we thought Pittsburgh was going to be a tougher seriesfor us because they played like we did,” Myers said. “It was adogfight. We played a lot of small ball that year and wedidn’t have guys on that team that cared about theirstats. Eric Davis could have hit 40 homers, but we did-

n’t play like that. Guys were willing to give themselves up to move arunner over and we won a lot of games that way.

“Lou also made sure that all the guys got playing time so that ifsomeone got hurt, we would have guys ready to play. All year he keptsaying everyone plays and everyone be ready for the postseasonbecause you might be the guy that wins it for us.”

The World Series got away from Oakland quickly after Reds ace JoseRijo, pitching at home in Game 1, set down the Athletics in order inthe top of the first, striking out two. The Reds were facing 22-gamewinner Dave Stewart, who had won at least 20 for the fourth straightyear. With one on and two out in the bottom of the first, Davis blasteda home run to straightaway center for a 2-0 Cincinnati lead.

“That set the tone and it was big because any lead for us was big,”Myers said. “(Pittsburgh manager) Jim Leyland said after the (NLCS)that it was a nightmare falling behind us with the bullpen we had.”

Cincinnati cruised to a 7-0 Game 1 win and Myers pitched a score-less ninth with two strikeouts. Then the Reds won Game 2 in extras, 5-4, tying the game in the eighth and winning it in the 10th. Theytouched Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley for three straight one-outsingles, the last by catcher Joe Oliver, who had hit .231 in 1990.

After a day off to travel to Oakland, the Reds jumped all overAthletics starter Mike Moore, driving him from Game 3 in the third.They had an 8-3 lead when Dibble and Myers pitched the final threeinnings, allowing one hit and no runs with three strikeouts.

At that point a sweep seemed inevitable, but that outcome seemedless certain after the opening frame of Game 4. In the top of the first,Reds center fielder Billy Hatcher was hit in the hand by a pitch and leftwith a bone fracture. In the bottom of the inning, Davis lacerated a kid-ney making a spectacular diving catch in left field. He was the team’smost dangerous hitter, and Hatcher was hitting .519 in the playoffs and


“Any lead for us was big. (Pittsburghmanager) Jim Leyland said after the(NLCS) that it was a nightmare fallingbehind us with the bullpen we had.” —RANDY MYERS

Phot

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Reds

.750 in the World Series, setting records with seven consec-utive hits and most doubles in a World Series.

When the inning was over, the Reds were down a run toStewart and had lost, arguably, their two most importanthitters.

“All of a sudden, it felt like a must-win for us because welost those guys so fast and if Oakland wins a game, they cantake the momentum away from us and start thinking aboutwinning four in a row,” Myers said. “They were that good.But, again, it comes back to Lou play-ing guys all year and having themready to play when it mattered.”

Well, now it really mattered.With the Reds still down 1-0 in the

eighth against Stewart, Barry Larkinon a 1-2 pitch singled up the middleon a ball that never made it to theoutfield. Herm Winningham—in forHatcher—was behind 0-2 when hedropped down a bunt in front ofhome plate, shocking the Athletics.Winningham beat the throw, puttingrunners on first and second withnobody out.

“That’s kind of the epitome of ourseason,” Myers said. “Small ball, try-ing to move guys up and doing it withevery player on the roster.”

Paul O’Neill, second on the Reds in1990 with 78 RBI, also put down abunt, and Stewart’s errant throwloaded the bases. That brought upGlenn Braggs, who had replaced theinjured Davis. He grounded to shortfor what appeared to be a double play,but O’Neill went in hard on secondbaseman Willie Randolph and Braggsbusted down the line and beat thethrow. The game was tied, andinstead of having a man on third with two outs, the Redshad runners on the corners with only one out.

“Paul O’Neill smoked him at second, and that was ahuge play because it gave us a chance to win the game,”Myers explained. “That was Reds baseball. Everyoneplayed like that.”

Charlton and Dibble had been up, but as soon as thegame was tied, Myers replaced Charlton on the bullpenmound. Then Hal Morris hit a sacrifice fly to right field,Winningham beat the throw home, and the Reds had a 2-1lead.

After Rijo, Cincinnati’s Game 4 starter, pitched a perfecteighth, Stewart did the same in the top of the ninth. Nowthe game was in the hands of Piniella, Rijo and the NastyBoys.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” Myers said. “Our key to beatingOakland, we believed, was not letting Harold Baines beatus. He was such a professional hitter and was capable ofreally hurting us, and we couldn’t let him do that. Hecould look foolish on one pitch and hit the next one 500feet—and then smile at you as he ran around the bases.We tried to keep Rickey off base, obviously, and not letHarold beat us. If Canseco and McGwire get you, they get

you, but Harold had no holes and the idea was to not givehim anything to hit.

“So Lou decided to let Rijo start the bottom of the ninth.He said, ‘Do you want to face Baines or have Myers faceCanseco?’ Lou knew they’d pinch-hit Canseco if I came in.Jose said, ‘I’ll get the first guy and then bring in Mr.Mellow.’ And that’s what we did.”

Rijo struck out Dave Henderson and Piniella went to thelefty Myers—a.k.a. Mr. Mellow—to get the final two outs

of the World Series. As the Redsexpected, Tony La Russa pinch-hit theright-handed-hitting Canseco for thelefty Baines.

“I had Canseco struck out on a back-door slider on 2-2, but the home plateump (Ted Hendry) was an AmericanLeague ump and he’d never seen mepitch. So he was surprised by wherethe pitch ended up,” Myers said. “Idon’t think many lefties in the A.L.threw that pitch to right-handers. Ididn’t care. I wasn’t going to give hima pitch he could hit out of the stadi-um. I was okay walking him. I wasn’tgiving in.”

Canseco fouled off a fastball on 3-2and then Myers got Canseco to pull apitch on the outside corner andground out weakly to the left side. TheAthletics were down to their final outand only Carney Lansford stoodbetween the Reds and their first titlein 14 years.

“When you’re the closer, you’realways at the edge of the cliff, but I wasnever nervous, not even then,” Myerssaid. “I was always thinking ahead. ‘Ifthis guy gets on, who’s next? Who’s thepinch-runner? Who else is on their

bench?’ My approach wasn’t any different except I didn’thave a book on Lansford. So, I have to go by what my catch-er knows because he’s seen him all week.”

Lansford worked the count to 2-1 and looked for some-thing he could drive, but Myers stayed away. Lansfordflipped his bat and popped a pitch into foul territory onthe first-base side. When it landed in Todd Benzinger’sglove, the Reds were the champs.

“It’s a weird feeling because I went through the hand-shake line and never joined the pile,” Myers noted. “I justkind of walked to the dugout. I wasn’t sure what to do.Every play, I was always one or two hitters ahead in mymind. I was always getting ready for the next game andthe next series. I always went and lifted after a gamebecause there’s always something to get ready for. Sothat’s what I did.

“I just thought, ‘OK, season’s over with. Let’s start gettingready for next year.’ I lifted for a while and then I thought,‘How do we get the families down here on the field?’ ThenI celebrated a bit, but we didn’t celebrate as hard as a lot ofteams because we expected to win. I think that’s the storyof that team. Once we left spring training, we expected towin. We expected to win… and we did.” BD

THE GAME I’LL NEVER FORGET


“I think that’sthe story of that

team. Once we left spring

training, weexpected to win.

We expected to win… and

we did.”—RANDY MYERS

Randy Myers, left, and Rob Dibble, right, were winners of the 1990 NLCS Most Valuable Player award.

®

Life outside baseball: I like to watchmovies and spend time with my family.Sports hero when I was young:Omar VizquelPeople who influenced me the

most, why? My dad. He was alwaystalking to me and giving me good

advice. Also, the coaches I hadalong the way.

Best advice anyoneever gave me: OmarVizquel told me thatwhatever I want to do,to do it hard.Players, pastand present, I’dpay to watchplay baseball:Davey Concepcionand Babe Ruthfrom the past andDerek Jeter andmany others from todayHobbies:Ping pongType of car: I’musing a rental carright now.Favorite movie:All the X-Menmovies. I love all

of them. Favorite Actoror Actress:Angelina JolieFavorite TV show: Two

and a Half MenFavorite music: I like all kindsof music. It depends on my mood.Favorite food: Italian Favorite ballparks: SafecoField (Seattle) and Chase Field(Arizona)True sign of success: Whateveryou try to do, give 100 percent.That is the key.

Person in history I’d like tomeet: Roberto Clemente and Babe Ruth

Player I learned the most from:Omar VizquelThree favorite cities on the road:Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco Characteristic I admire in a person: A person who is respectful of othersFavorite sports team outside baseball: Oklahoma City ThunderBest time of my life, why? I thinkwhen the Astros called me up fromDouble-A in 2011. It was a surprise, butwhat I had been working hard to do.Biggest disappointment: I don’t havemany. But when I do have one, I forgetabout it right away.Most important attribute a baseball player needs: A baseballplayer needs to take care of his bodyand have a good routine.If I could change one thing aboutbaseball: I wouldn’t change anything. I love the game the way it is.I’m most proud of: My family. They support me very much. Behind my back they say: I don’tknow what they say. I’d like to find out.If not a baseball player, I wouldhave been: Maybe an engineerToughest pitcher I ever faced:Max ScherzerLife after baseball will be: It will bea lot of fun. Spend time with my family.But I might want to stay in baseballwhen I’m done playing.Three people I’d like to invite todinner: Angelina Jolie and MelanieIglesias. I only need two (smiles).Most embarrassing baseball experience: When I was a rookie, myteammates took my clothes from mylocker and left me with women’s clothesthat I had to wear on the plane ride backhome to Houston. I was so embarrassed.I kept looking down. But we had funwith it.My most memorable game: Playingin the 2014 All-Star Game in Minnesotais my most memorable game. When Ihit the sacrifice fly that scored the run,all the guys were shaking my hand. Itwas fun playing in that game. I'll neverforget it.


In 2014, Jose Altuve led all major league hittersin hits (225) and batting average (.341) while

placing second in stolen bases (56).

BABERUTH

By Rick Sorci

P R O F I L E

OMAR VIZQUEL

SportPics

SportPics

JOSE ALTUVEFull Name: Jose Carlos Altuve Age: 24 HT: 5-6 WT: 174Throws: Right

Bats: RightHome: Maracay, VenezuelaStatus: Married


I t’s time for my annual bobsled ride through the curvesand valleys of the Official Baseball Rules, as I reviewsome of the interesting rules situations from the 2014

season. Hold on. April 13: The New York Yankees hosted the Boston Red

Sox. In the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees hadCarlos Beltran on third and Jacoby Ellsbury on secondwith one out when Alfonso Soriano flied to Jackie BradleyJr. in center field. Both runners tagged up. Ellsbury sprint-ed to third while Beltran ran home at what appeared to benormal speed for a runner who was not expecting a play tobe made on Ellsbury. Bradley Jr. threw Ellsbury out atthird long before Beltran crossed the plate. The out erased

the potential run because the inning ended on a “timeplay,” meaning the third out was recorded before the run-ner crossed the plate and the inning that did not end in aforce play or the batter-runner making the third out beforereaching first base.

April 13: The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas CityRoyals 4-3 at Target Field, aided by a batter’s interferencecall. Mike Moustakas was batting in the top of the ninthinning with none on and two outs when he hit a high popfly over the area of home plate. Instead of running to firstbase, he remained in the batter’s box and got in the way ofTwins catcher Kurt Suzuki, who tripped over Moustakaswhile pursuing the ball. Plate umpire Laz Diaz properlycalled interference on Moustakas for hindering a defen-sive player from making a play.

April 16: In the afternoon game of a day-night double-header at Yankee Stadium, New York manager Joe Girardiexercised a rare managerial option under rule 6.08 (c),when he took the play and not the penalty in the Yanks’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Yanks had Brett Gardner


By Rich Marazzi

Review of Interesting Plays

in 2014

on third with one out when Jacoby Ellsbury tapped agroundball back to the mound. Ellsbury’s bat made con-tact with the mitt of Cubs catcher John Baker. Plate umpireJim Reynolds called interference on Baker and properlykept the ball alive. Ellsbury pointed to Baker and momen-tarily remained in the batter’s box area for a couple of sec-onds (a normal reaction) before he was tagged out by Cubspitcher Jason Hammel up the first-base line. MeanwhileGardner wisely broke for home on the crack of the bat andcrossed the plate. Girardi met with Reynolds and elected totake the play over the penalty, which allowed Gardner’srun to score but Ellsbury’s out remained. In essence,Girardi traded the out for the run.

April 18: In a scene straight out of Hollywood, Brewerscatcher Martin Maldonado did his best Roy Hobbs imita-tion when he ripped the cover off the ball, at least part ofthe ball, in the sixth inning of the Brewers-Pirates game inPittsburgh. Maldonado smacked a groundball to Piratesthird baseman Pedro Alvarez, connecting just right to tearthe seams away from the core of the baseball. With a chunkof leather flapping in the breeze, Alvarez’ throw, flutteringlike a bird, fell well short of first base and Maldonado waseasily safe. He was credited with a hit. The Official BaseballRules say, “Should a ball come partially apart in a game, itis in play until the play is completed.”

May 22: The New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgersplayed at Citi Field. In the top of the sixth inning, theDodgers had Chone Figgins on second and Yasiel Puig onfirst with no outs when Hanley Ramirez hit a pop-up justbeyond the infield behind the second baseman’s normalposition. The umps quickly and clearly called the infieldfly rule. Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy went backto catch the ball, but apparently a gust of wind caused theball to drop. Figgins advanced to third, but Puig, appar-ently unfamiliar with the finer points of the infield flyrule, chugged to second base thinking he was forced toadvance. Murphy fired a throw to shortstop WilmerFlores, who also appeared confused as he touched the bagwith his foot but didn’t tag Puig, who ran through the basethinking he was out.

Since runners are not forced to run when the infield fly

rule is invoked, any continuing play requires a tag. Itappeared that David Wright yelled at Flores from his third-base position to tag Puig, which he did. The Mets hadrecorded two outs on the play in a game they won, 5-3.

June 10: Rule 7.10 (b) (2) is an obscure rule that seldomsurfaces. It reads, “When the ball is dead, no runner mayreturn to touch a missed base or one he has left after he hasadvanced to and touched a base beyond the missed base.”The rule almost came alive in a game between the NewYork Yankees and Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. DerekJeter hit a one-out book-rule double off M’s pitcher HisashiIwakuma. Jeter rounded first base and got about a quarterof the way to second base when he returned to first base,thinking he had missed the base. By the time Jeterreturned to first base, the ball was in dead-ball territoryover the wall. If Jeter had in fact missed first base and pro-ceeded to touch second base after the ball was in dead-ballterritory, he would not have legally been able to return totouch first base, his missed base. If Jeter had touched sec-ond base and returned to first base before going back tosecond base, the Mariners would have had the right toappeal the missed base. In that situation, the umpires canonly call Jeter out if the Mariners appealed.

June 27: In the second game of the day-night double-header between Tampa Bay and Baltimore, Rays pitcherJuan Carlos Oviedo threw to first baseman James Loney inan attempt to pick off Manny Machado. First-base umpireJim Wolf called Machado out. Orioles manager BuckShowalter appealed. After review, the out call was upheld.

Broadcasters Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer, doing theplay-by-play on MASN, the Orioles’ cable network, notedthat the loose leather string on Loney’s glove may havemade contact with Machado before he touched the base.That led to their discussion of whether a loose string is partof the glove for tag purposes. One former major leagueump said that the lacing would not be part of the glove.Rule 1.14 stipulates that the leather lacing be adjusted to itsproper condition, if necessary. But cases where only thelace touches the runner is not addressed in the rule book.

July 3: When have you seen the manager of the battingteam beg for an out? Thanks to the use of instant replay,


Kurt Suzuki

Mike Moustakas

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this baseball anomaly occurred in Oakland, where the A’shosted the Toronto Blue Jays. In the top of the secondinning, the Jays had the bases loaded and one out whenAnthony Gose hit a sharp grounder to first base. NateFreiman fielded the ball cleanly and attempted to make atag on Munenori Kawasaki, the runner on first, beforethrowing home.

First-base umpire Vic Carapazza ruled that Kawasakiavoided the tag and immediately made the safe sign. Thatmeant the force play at home was still in order, and catcherStephen Vogt recorded the out when he caught the ballwhile stepping on the plate. Jays manager John Gibbonschallenged the call, arguing that Kawasaki was tagged out,which would have removed the force. And because the forcewas removed, the run would score since EdwinEncarnacion, the runner advancing home, was not tagged.Following the video review, the umps overturned the calland Gibbons got what he wanted. Kawasaki was out at first,but Encarnacion’s run counted. A’s manager Bob Melvinprotested the game, but the protest was never heard sincethe A’s won, 4-1.

Aug. 5: Fans at the Cleveland Indians-Cincinnati Redsgame in Cleveland were treated to a play involving two ballsin play at the same time. In the bottom of the seventhinning, the Tribe had runners on first and second with noouts when Yan Gomes sent a Johnny Cueto offering to rightfield to easily score Lonnie Chisenhall from second base.David Murphy hustled from first to third base and immedi-ately looked to third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh, who sig-naled for Murphy to stop at third, which he did.

At that moment, Reds shortstop Zack Cozart received arelay throw from second baseman Kris Negron, who hadcaught the throw from right fielder Jay Bruce. DuringNegron’s relay to second, where Gomes slid in safely, a sec-ond baseball emerged on the field and was rolling behind

second base in shallow right-center field.As Cozart walked away from second with the live baseball

tucked in his glove, Murphy spotted the second baseball inthe outfield. Apparently confused, Murphy was not awarethat the second ball came from Cincinnati reliever JumboDiaz, who had thrown a wild pitch in the Reds bullpen,which got by bullpen catcher Nilson Antigua. That ballended up on the field at the precise moment that Bruce wasretrieving the baseball that Gomes had slashed to deep rightfield for a double.

Murphy saw the second ball that escaped the bullpen andmade a move toward home plate, thinking it was the liveball. Cozart quickly snapped a throw to third basemanRamon Santiago, who applied the tag on Murphy as heattempted to dive back into the base. Murphy was calledout. What frustrated Murphy was the fact that Indians man-ager Tito Francona could not review the play, which mighthave resulted in runners on second and third with no outsunder normal circumstances. From this corner, the umpirescould have protected Murphy because of the unusual cir-cumstances and left him on third base under rule 9.01 (c),which allows the umpires to rule on anything not specifical-ly covered in the rules.

Aug. 8: The Houston Astros and Washington Nationalsmet in Houston. The Nationals had Bryce Harper on third andRyan Zimmerman on first with one out when Adam LaRochehit an apparent sac fly to Brandon Barnes in center field,which would score Harper. However, umpire AngelHernandez called a balk on Armando Galarraga before hedelivered the pitch. Because all runners (Harper andZimmerman), including the batter-runner (LaRoche), did notadvance one base on the play, the umpires had to invoke thebalk rule as soon as Barnes made the catch. Harper wasallowed to score and Zimmerman was sent to second.LaRoche remained in the batter’s box with the same countprior to the pitch. No out was recorded on the play. If bothrunners and LaRoche had advanced at least one base on theplay, the balk would have been nullified.

Sept. 10: The Milwaukee Brewers played a little“Ruleball” when they hosted the Miami Marlins. JeanSegura led off the bottom of the third with a bouncer to


Adeiny Hechavarria Jean Segura

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shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. The Marlins shortstop firedthe ball wild past first baseman Garrett Jones into dead-ballterritory, allowing Segura to take second base. The Marlinsappealed that Segura missed first base. Pitcher JarredCosart stepped off the rubber and lobbed the ball to first.While the ball softly sailed in the air to first base, Segurawisely took advantage and advanced to third on the play.The appeal was not upheld and the Brewers had a runner onthird and no outs. Pitcher Wily Peralta then hit a sac fly togive the Brewers a 1-0 lead in a game they won, 4-1.

Sept. 18: The Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates metin Pittsburgh. The Sox were batting in the top of the ninthwith runners at the corners and nobody out when WillMiddlebrooks hit a grounder to third. As pinch-runnerJemile Weeks, the runner on third, hastily retreated back tothe base, the ball hit him on the right leg in fair territoryand he was ruled out for runner interference per rule 7.09(k), because Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison couldhave made a play on the ball. The call was crucial sinceBoston lost the game, 3-2. Even if Weeks was hit by the ballwhile occupying the base, he would have been called outbecause he interfered with Harrison and kept him frommaking a play.

Sept. 20: Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez wastripped up by not tagging up on a caught line drive when theRoyals hosted the Detroit Tigers. In the bottom of the sixth

inning of a 1-1 ballgame, with runners on second and thirdand one out, Omar Infante hit a line drive to Tigers secondbaseman Ian Kinsler, who made the easy catch, thenwheeled and threw to second in an attempt to retire EricHosmer. But his throw eluded shortstop Eugenio Suarez,and Perez, occupying third base, raced home to score. Itappeared Kansas City had taken a 2-1 lead. While Royalsfans were celebrating, Hernan Perez, a Tigers Septembercallup, noticed that the Royals catcher never tagged up fromthird base. Perez started to go back to third, but when theball got away, he turned and headed home.

Detroit appealed the violation at third, but third-baseumpire and crew chief Larry Vanover made the safe call.Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus went out to ask Vanoverwhether he could challenge the ruling. Vanover checkedwith the command center in New York and was told that itwas not a reviewable play. Still, Vanover and the other threeumpires—Angel Hernandez, Paul Nauert and VicCarapazza—huddled, and they concluded Perez neverretouched third and called him out.

Royals manager Ned Yost was not happy with the reversal,but the call stood. BD

Rich Marazzi is a rules consultant for the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, Mariners and Padres. If you would like to contact Rich, you can email him at [email protected] or

write him at: 105 Pulaski Highway, Ansonia, CT 06401


ACROSS1 Joe Maddon managed this club to

its only pennant4 K9 Justin ___ represented Canada at

three World Baseball Classics10 Incapacitate11 Pull12 Hairstyle made popular by former

outfielder Oscar Gamble13 Many teams go to Florida

for training ___15 Tosses out17 A called or ___ game is to be

resumed at a later date20 Derek Jeter is a native of this state22 Add up24 The fledgling Mets played two

seasons at the ___ Grounds 25 Rick ___ spent 15 seasons in the

majors, playing on six teams26 “Marvelous ___” Throneberry of

those early Mets29 Call up from the minors30 Ian ___ went to Detroit in

exchange for Prince Fielder31 Position played by “Yaz”32 Finished

DOWN1 ___ ___ surgery is named after a

former pitcher 2 Former Yankee Hank Bauer was once

with this branch of the military3 The A in “A-Rod”4 Games that feature many hits and runs5 Red Barber’s medium6 As Bob Prince used to say, “You can

___ it goodbye!”7 Occupying a base: 2 words8 To ___ ___ a batter is to pitch inside

so he can’t get around fast enough14 Hall of Famer ___ Blyleven16 Another stadium occupied by the Mets18 Willie Mays was known as “The ___

___ ___”19 Came through in a clutch situation21 Joe Carter’s ___-___ home run gave

Toronto the 1993 World Series23 Was behind24 Student25 “Pee Wee”27 Toronto’s Rogers Centre has a

retractable ___28 ___ pads are one type of protective

gear for ballplayers

SOLUTION ON PAGE 62

By Larry Humber

W ithout question, SanFrancisco left-handerMadison Bumgarner put

on one of the best postseason pitch-ing clinics ever seen in the 2014World Series. He won Game 1 byscattering three hits over seveninnings, threw a shutout in Game 5,and then earned the save in Game 7with five scoreless innings in reliefon two days’ rest.

At least one pundit said the 2014World Series MVP turned in one thetop five pitching performances everin the Fall Classic. Bumgarner’ssuccess, which earned him WorldSeries MVP honors, stirs memoriesof another southpaw who dominat-ed the World Series and was namedthe MVP: former Tigers greatMickey Lolich.

The 1968 World Series MVPbecame—and remains—the onlyleft-handed pitcher in AmericanLeague history to win three com-plete games in one Series.

All three victories were pressure-packed. His Game 2 victory stoppedthe Tigers from going down 2-0. HisGame 5 win prevented the Tigersfrom losing the Series, and Game 7in St. Louis was . . . well, Game 7.

Facing one of the greatest St.Louis teams ever, a squad thatincluded Bob Gibson, Lou Brock,Curt Flood, Roger Maris andOrlando Cepeda, the Cardinalsscored in just three of Lolich’s 27innings of work. They tallied onlyfive runs against him and the Tigerswon their third world champi-onship.

The portly Lolich, a key memberof Detroit’s starting rotation fromthe mid-1960s to the mid-1970s,once called himself, “a beerdrinker’s idol.” He was so muchmore than that.

Lolich was one of the game’s mostdurable and effective left-handersof all time. Among lefties, he ranksthird (behind Randy Johnson and

Steve Carlton) with 2,832 careerstrikeouts. He struck out more bat-ters than Bob Feller, Warren Spahn,Don Drysdale, Christy Mathewson,Cy Young, and his childhood idol,Whitey Ford.

Over 16 seasons, Lolich won 15 ormore games eight times, and inseven seasons he struck out 200 ormore batters while missing just onestart due to injury. When Lolichretired after the 1979 season, he hadcompiled 217 wins, 191 losses, a 3.44ERA, 41 shutouts and an amazing195 complete games.

A 17-game winner in 1968, Lolichstole the World Series spotlight fromthe highly anticipated matchupsbetween Bob Gibson and 31-gamewinner Denny McLain, the two 1968Cy Young and league MVP winners.In fact, the lefty’s Game 7 victory onjust two days’ rest has often over-shadowed his impressive career.

“Almost on a daily basis peoplecome up to me and reminisce aboutmy World Series performance, butsometimes I want to say, ‘Do youknow what I did in 1971?’” saysLolich from his home outside ofDetroit, where he also ran a donutbusiness for several years after hisplaying days.

An All-Star that year, Lolich wasthe league leader with 25 wins, 308strikeouts, 29 complete games andan incredible 376 innings pitched.Yet, he was edged out for the CyYoung Award by A.L. MVP VidaBlue, who led the league with a 1.82ERA and eight shutouts, whilegoing 24-8 with 301 strikeouts forthe Oakland A’s.

Lolich, armed with a wicked arse-nal that included an upper-90s fast-ball, a sinker, curve, and later anasty cut fastball, often inspiredTigers announcer Ernie Harwell toutter his famous call for taking athird strike: “He stood there like thehouse by the side of the road andwatched that one go by.” And Lolich

TURN BACK THE CLOCK


FORMER TIGERS PITCHER MICKEY LOLICH RECALLS HIS 16-YEAR CAREER AND MVP PERFORMANCE IN THE 1968WORLD SERIES

Fran

k Br

yan

By BILL DOW


During his 16 years in themajors, Lolich was a two-time20-game winner. He struck out

200 or more batters seventimes, and worked 200 or moreinnings 12 years in a row, with

a season-high 376 in 1971.

1968

was always ready to pitch.“I always say Mickey could get up on

January 15th with five feet of snow onthe ground after not picking up a base-ball, and throw a 94-mile-an-hour fast-ball with great movement on it,” saysformer slugger Frank Howard. “He wasan outstanding starter who could pitchdown and away all day long, get a thou-sand groundballs, or with a two-strikecount come up and in and blow you outof there.”

Reggie Jackson, who calls Lolich’s1971 season “one of the greatest of alltime,” has nothing but praise for hisnemesis.

“Lolich was a gallon of ice creamwhen you only wanted a cone, simply agreat pitcher, and for seven or eightyears the toughest lefty in the league,”says Mr. October. “When he stepped onthe mound at 1 p.m., you knew hewould be there until the end and henever missed a start. Today they talk

about 200 innings being special. Hell,Mickey had 200 innings by August 1st. Ijust wish he had gone into the donutbusiness 10 years earlier.”

The lefty’s early years have the mak-ings of a Hollywood script. While ridinga tricycle at age two, the toddler hit thekickstand of an Indian motorcycle thatfell and broke his left collarbone in twoplaces. Naturally right handed, Lolich’sphysical therapy included having hisright hand tied behind his back androtating his left arm in a throwingmotion. Little Mickey became a left-handed thrower, long before evertouching a baseball.

“I was an only child and there wereno other kids on my block,” Lolichexplains, “so I used to entertain myselfby throwing figs with my left arm at thecity buses 150 feet from the top of mygrandparents’ garage, and sometimesthrowing rocks as water skippers at alocal creek,” he says.

Lolich didn’t play baseball untilage 11, when he happened upon a game at the city parkmaintained by his father in Portland, Ore. A local team of14-and 15-year olds was short one player and asked Mickeyif he would play.

“We were getting beat pretty bad and I thought, ‘I canthrow as good as those guys,’ so I volunteered to pitch,”says Lolich, now 74. “To the surprise of everyone, I blew allthe batters away because they couldn’t hit my fast ‘fig.’”

After graduating high school in June 1958, Lolich facedthe decision of signing with the Yankees for $40,000 orthe Tigers for $30,000.

“I wanted to go with the Yankees, but my uncle wasfriends with Johnny Pesky, who had just signed on withthe Tigers to manage the Knoxville (minor league) club,and he asked for his advice,” says Lolich. “Johnny told usthat Detroit didn’t have good left-handers in their systemand that I should sign with them because I would get tothe big leagues quicker. And so I did.”

After struggling with his control in the minors, Lolichquit in 1962 after refusing an assignment to Knoxville. Hewas loaned to his hometown Portland Beavers, where hefound his groove, thanks to pitching coach Gerry Staley.

“I could throw a baseball threw a wall, but I couldn’t hitthe wall. I was wild as hell,” Lolich recalls. “I had a fastballand curve and was throwing close to 100. Gerry told me hewas going to take me down to 95, change my grip, cock my

wrist, and make me a sinkerball pitcher. Within twoweeks, when I pulled through the ball, the damn bottomfell out, tailed off to the outside corner, and it was rightthere. It became my strikeout pitch and I could throw it allday long.”

Joining the Tigers rotation for good in 1964, Lolichbecame one of the best young hurlers in baseball by win-ning 18 games with a 3.26 ERA and 192 strikeouts. Over astretch in September, he pitched 30.2 consecutive score-less innings.

Lolich and Denny McLain established themselves asone of the top starting duos in the American League by1967, when Detroit was involved in one of the most excit-ing pennant races in history before falling short on thelast day of the season. In 1968, Lolich went 17-9 with a 3.19ERA as the Tigers captured the American League pen-

nant. His performance was overshadowed by the domi-nance of McLain, the 31-game winner who graced thecover of Time magazine that summer and appeared ontelevision variety shows.

The 1968 World Series featured McLain, backed by apowerful Detroit lineup that included Al Kaline, NormCash and Willie Horton, squaring off against Gibson (22-9,13 shutouts, 1.12 ERA), who the year before pitched threecomplete-game victories to grab MVP honors in theCardinals’ World Series victory over the Red Sox.

Before the Series started, however, former Yankee andcurrent St. Louis slugger Roger Maris, who had facedLolich many times in the American League, warned histeammates that the pitcher they should fear was notMcLain, but rather Lolich.

After Gibson mowed down the Tigers 4-0 in Game 1with a record 17 strikeouts, Lolich was left with the task ofevening the Series, and he did with a six-hit, complete-game victory. He helped his own cause by belting the onlyhome run of his career in the 8-1 win.

“I never knew I hit it out until first-base coach WallyMoses told me, and I thought, ‘You’re sh- - -ing me.’ I hadmissed touching first base—which I normally did when Imade an out so I wouldn’t turn my ankle—so I had to goback and touch it.”

When the Series returned to Detroit, tied at one gameapiece, the Cardinals rallied for two wins at Tiger Stadiumto take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Series. With theTigers facing elimination, Lolich again took the mound ina pressure situation.


TURN BACK THE CLOCK

MOST CAREER STRIKEOUTS, LEFT-HANDERSPITCHER YEARS SORandy Johnson 1988-2009 4,875Steve Carlton 1965-1988 4,136Mickey Lolich 1963-1979 2,832Frank Tanana 1973-1993 2,773Chuck Finley 1986-2002 2,610Tom Glavine 1987-2008 2,607Warren Spahn 1946-1965 2,583Jerry Koosman 1967-1985 2,556Mark Langston 1984-1999 2,464Jim Kaat 1959-1983 2,461Sam McDowell 1961-1975 2,453Andy Pettitte 1995-2013 2,448Jamie Moyer 1986-2012 2,441CC Sabathia 2001-2014 2,437Sandy Koufax 1955-1966 2,396Rube Waddell 1897-1910 2,316Lefty Grove 1925-1941 2,266Eddie Plank 1901-1917 2,246Tommy John 1963-1989 2,245David Wells 1987-2007 2,201

“I could throw a baseball threw a wall, but I couldn’t hit the wall. I was wild as hell. Ihad a fastball and curve and was throwingclose to 100. Gerry told me he was going totake me down to 95, change my grip, cockmy wrist, and make me a sinkerball pitcher.Within two weeks, when I pulled throughthe ball, the damn bottom fell out, tailed offto the outside corner, and it was rightthere. It became my strikeout pitch and Icould throw it all day long.” —MICKEY LOLICH

SportPics SportPics

RANDY JOHNSON

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STEVECARLTON

St. Louis seemingly had the Series in the bag whenLolich looked shaky in the first inning. Leadoff hitter LouBrock doubled to left, and Curt Flood singled him homebefore Orlando Cepeda hit a two-run homer to put St.Louis up 3-0. Perhaps singer and Tigers fan Jose Felicianounintentionally helped the Cardinals with his unconven-tional rendition of the national anthem before the game.

“When I was warming up in the bullpen, I was just get-ting ready to throw some breaking balls when Jose startedto sing this long rendition, and for me, it was forever,”Lolich says. “I had to go back to throwing fastballs to getmy sweat back up when the left-field umpire said to takethe mound. I had not thrown any competitive curveballs,so I had to throw all fastballs in the first inning andCepeda jumped all over it.”

In the fifth inning with a 3-2 lead, the Cardinals threat-ened again when Brock tried to score standing up on asharp single to left by Julian Javier. Willie Horton fieldedthe ball and fired a perfect one-hopper to catcher BillFreehan, who tagged Brock out.

“That play was a game-changer because when the ballwas hit, I knew I was out of the game, but then Brock wasout and I stayed in to finish it,” says Lolich.

In the bottom of the seventh with one out and Detroitstill trailing 3-2, Lolich helped himself again when he sin-gled and scored the tying run on the biggest hit of AlKaline’s career—a two-run single that gave the Tigers thelead. Detroit scored another run that inning before Lolichheld the Cardinals at bay for a 5-3 victory that took theSeries back to St. Louis.

When the Tigers exploded for 10 runs and were on their

way to a Series-tying 13-1 victory in Game 6, manager MayoSmith began thinking about who would pitch the seventhgame.

“I was at the far end of the bench when Mayo came up tome and asked if I could pitch the next day,” says Lolich. “Iknew it was Earl Wilson’s turn to start (after losing Game3), and I told him that if he needed me for a couple ofinnings out of the bullpen, I could do that. He said, ‘No, Iwant you to start. Can you give me five?’ I did the math andknew I averaged about 15 pitches an inning, and realized I


Mickey Lolich receives his 1968 World Seriesring from commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

could probably give him that.” Smiththen ordered Lolich to go back to the hotel to rest andavoid reporters.

Pitching Game 7 on two days’ rest was uncharted territo-ry for the lefty, but it was Lolich and Gibson, each with twovictories in the Series, on the mound for the finale. WhenLolich entered the dugout after setting down the side inthe fifth inning of a scoreless tie, he assumed his day wasover. But Smith asked him if the could give him one moreinning, and the man with the rubber arm agreed.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lolich killed a potentialCardinals rally by deftly pulling off the improbable: pick-ing off Brock and Flood at first base after both had singled.Then the Tigers took a 3-0 lead in seventh, aided by JimNorthrup’s two-run triple over Curt Flood’s head, and thatinspired Lolich to deliver a message to Smith.

“I walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder andsaid, ‘Now I’ll finish it for you.’ He said, ‘That’s exactlywhat I wanted to hear.’”

Relying largely on his sinking fastball, as he had all day,Lolich completed his trifecta when Tim McCarver poppedout to Freehan, who immediately lifted his battery mate off

the ground in a warm embrace. The moment was captured inwhat remains perhaps the most famous Detroit Tigers photo.

McLain, battling arm and personal problems, was trad-ed in 1970. Lolich became the Tigers ace and staff work-horse. Beginning in 1971, he surpassed 300 innings forfour straight years.

After perfecting the cut fastball during spring trainingin 1971, the three-time All-Star delivered his career-bestseason (25-9, 376 innings, 308 strikeouts). Then he helpedlead the Tigers to the postseason in 1972 with 22 victories.

By 1975, the Tigers were bereft of talent, a poor defensiveclub that failed to provide run support. Yet, Lolich was dis-appointed when the Tigers traded him to the New YorkMets for Rusty Staub.

“I had always wanted to finish my career with the Tigersand I almost didn’t agree to the trade,” Lolich explains.“Looking back now I wish I hadn’t.”

After signing a two-year contract with the Mets, Lolichpitched in 1976, then walked away for a year before signingwith the San Diego Padres in 1978. The Padres had coaxedhim out of retirement with a two-year deal worth morethan he had ever been paid before. He retired for good fol-lowing the 1979 season, and later owned and operated adonut shop outside of Detroit for several years.

Looking back, Lolich is grateful he had the opportunityto play a portion of his career in the 1960s.

“For me, I think the ’60s was the last great era ofbaseball, when the two teams with the best recordsfaced each other,” says Lolich. “It was before theplayoff system, expansion, free agency.”

At autograph shows, fans often ask Lolichabout the 1968 World Series and what it was likepitching against sluggers like Mickey Mantle,Reggie Jackson, and Carl Yastrzemski.

“It is nice being remembered and I enjoy sharingstories of the game when I played,” he says. BD

BOB GIBSON

TURN BACK THE CLOCK

PITCHERS WITHTHREE WINS, ONEWORLD SERIESPITCHER, TEAM YEAR W-L ERA OPPONENTBill Dinneen, Red Sox 1903 3-1 2.06 PiratesDeacon Phillippe, Pirates 1903 3-2 3.07 Red SoxChristy Mathewson, Giants 1905 3-0 0.00 A’sBabe Adams, Pirates 1909 3-0 1.33 TigersJack Coombs, A’s 1910 3-0 3.33 CubsJoe Wood, Red Sox 1912 3-1 4.50 GiantsRed Faber, White Sox 1917 3-1 2.33 GiantsStan Coveleski, Indians 1920 3-0 0.67 DodgersHarry Brecheen, Cardinals 1946 3-0 0.45 Red SoxLew Burdette, Braves 1957 3-0 0.67 YankeesBob Gibson, Cardinals 1967 3-0 1.00 Red SoxMickey Lolich, Tigers 1968 3-0 1.67 CardinalsRandy Johnson, D’backs 2001 3-0 1.04 Yankees

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (required by39 USC 3685). 1. Publication Title: Baseball Digest. 2 Publication No.: 492-630. 3. FilingDate: 09/16/14. 4. Issue Frequency: (Bi-monthly: Jan./Feb., Mar./Apr., May/June,July/Aug., Sept./Oct., Nov./Dec.). 5. No. of issues published annually: 6. 6. Annual sub-scription price: $58.95. 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 990Grove Street, Evanston, Cook, IL 60201-6510. Contact person: Norman Jacobs.Telephone: 847-491-6440. 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters of generalbusiness offices of publisher: Same. 9. Full names and complete mailing address ofPublisher, Editor, and Managing Editor. Publisher: Norman Jacobs, 990 Grove St.,Evanston, Cook, IL 60201-6510. Editor: Robert Kuenster, same.

10. Owner (If the publication is owned by a corporation, give the name and addressof the corporation immediately followed by the names and addresses of all stockhold-ers owning or holding 1 percent or more of the total amount of stock. If not owned by acorporation, give the names and addresses of the individual owners. If owned by a part-nership or other unincorporated firm, give its name and address as well as those ofeach individual owner. If the publication is published by a nonprofit organization, give itsname and address.): Grandstand Publishing, LLC, 990 Grove Street, Evanston, IL60201-6510. Lakeside Publishing Company, same. Grove Gardens, LLC, same, DavidFagley, same. 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owningor holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities:None. 12. Not applicable.

13. Publication title: Baseball Digest. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: May/June2014. 15. Extent and nature of circulation. Average number of copies of each issue dur-ing the preceding 12 months: A. Total number of copies (net press run): 76,616. B. PaidCirculation (By Mail and Outside the Mail) (1) Mailed Outside-County PaidSubscriptions Stated on Form 3541. (Includes paid distribution above nominal rate,advertiser’s proof copies and exchange copies): 40,619. (3) Paid Distribution outside themails including, Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales,and Other Paid Distribution outside USPS: 5,930. C. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b(1), (2), (3), and (4): 46,549. D. Nonrequested Distribution (By Mail and Outside theMail) (2) In-County nonrequested copies stated on PS Form 3541: 719. E. Total non-requested Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4): 719. F. Total Distribution (sumof 15c and 15e): 47,268. G. Copies not Distributed: 29,348. H. Total (Sum of 15f and g):76,616. I. Percent Paid (15c/15f x 100): 98.48.

Actual Number of Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: A. Totalnumber of copies (net press run): 64,500. B. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside theMail) (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541. (Includespaid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies and exchange copies):36,758. (3) Paid Distribution outside the mail including, Sales Through Dealers andCarriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution outside USPS:4,955. C. Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4): 41,713. D. (2) In-County nonrequested copies stated on PS Form 3541: 635. E. Total non-requestedDistribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4): 635. F. Total Distribution (sum of 15c and15e): 42,348. G. Copies not Distributed: 22,152. H. Total (Sum of 15f and g): 64,500. I.Percent Paid (15c/15f x 100): 98.50.

I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. (signed)Norman Jacobs, President

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LEW BURDETTE

1The 10 players with 3,000 lifetime hits who fin-ished their careers with a batting average below

.300 are Carl Yastrzemski (.285), Eddie Murray(.287), Cal Ripken (.276), Robin Yount(.285), Dave Winfield (.283), Craig Biggio(.281), Rickey Henderson (.279), LouBrock (.293), Rafael Palmeiro (.288)and Al Kaline (.297).

2 The 13 players to win consecutive MVPawards since 1931 include American

League players Jimmie Foxx (1932-33), HalNewhouser (1944-45), Yogi Berra (1954-55),

Mickey Mantle (1956-57), Roger Maris (1960-61),Frank Thomas (1993-94) and Miguel Cabrera

(2012-13). The National League players withconsecutive MVP awards are Ernie Banks

(1958-59), Joe Morgan (1975-76), MikeSchmidt (1980-81), Dale Murphy (1982-

83), Barry Bonds (1992-93, 2001-04)and Albert Pujols (2008-09).

3 Ted Williams led the A.L. in on-base percentage 12 times during

his career, more than any other play-er in big league history. Babe Ruthand Barry Bonds led 10 times whileRogers Hornsby paced the N.L. onnine occasions.

4 The nine pitchers other thanMadison Bumgarner to hit two

career grand slams are TonyCloninger, Denny Neagle, Rick Wise,Bob Gibson, Schoolboy Rowe, DaveMcNally, Tommy Byrne, Camilo

Pascual and Dizzy Trout.

5 The fourpitchers

with no-hitters in2014 are Josh Beckett

and Clayton Kershawof the Dodgers, Tim

Lincecum of the Giantsand Jordan Zimmermann of

the Nationals.

6 Besides Bruce Bochy, thenine other managers to

win three or more World Series championships are JoeMcCarthy (7), Casey Stengel (7), Connie Mack (5), Walter

Alston (4), Joe Torre (4), Sparky Anderson (3), Tony La Russa(3), John McGraw (3) and Miller Huggins (3).

7 The three pitchers to toss a perfect game at YankeeStadium I are Don Larsen against the Dodgers on Oct. 8,

1956, David Wells vs. the Twins on May 17, 1998, and DavidCone against the Expos on July 18, 1999.

8 Other than Jose Altuve, the eight second basemen to winan A.L. batting title are Julio Franco (1991), Rod Carew

(1969, 1972-75), Pete Runnels (1960), Bobby Avila (1954), SnuffyStirnweiss (1945), Charlie Gehringer (1937), Buddy Myer (1935)and Nap Lajoie (1901-04, 1910).

9 The five left-handed pitchers to fan 200 or more battersin 2014 are David Price (271), Clayton Kershaw (239), Jon

Lester (220), Madison Bumgarner (219) and Chris Sale (208).

10 The two players with 10 or more doubles, triples andhome runs last season are Hunter Pence and Brandon

Crawford of the Giants.

FROM PAGE 36QUICK QUIZ ANSWERS


JOSH BECKETT

White Sox left-hander

Chris Sale hasaveraged 209strikeouts peryear over the

last three seasons.

TED WILLIAMS

Phot

os b

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ortP

ics

http://www.livepositively.com

http://www.ripit.com

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